Surviving The Storm Rewrite
by bobbiejod
Summary: This is a rewrite of the first story I posted on this site. The full story is inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Takes place before the series finale. After Emma was born. After Chandler starts at the Ad Agency. Before Monica and Chandler decide to adopt. Chandler starts to feel sick and is rushed to the hospital. They find out some life-altering news and try to deal with the repercussions.

**Author's Note: **Ok. So here's the deal. I was going through all my old stories and decided to rewrite this because I think it could definitely be better. This was the first story that I had ever written for this site, so I was still fairly new to writing. So I'm rewriting this story to make it a LOT better. There may be fewer chapters, but they will be longer with some extra content added. I left the other version up in case you all wanted to do a comparison. So I would appreciate it if you would leave some reviews and let me know if this is better than the original. If not, that's all right. I'm doing this for fun, but I will also continue to work on updating my other stories that I have on here.

**Disclaimer: **I own no one. They all belong to Bright/Kauffman/Crane.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Chandler Bing awoke one morning with a bad migraine. He had been feeling really horrible for almost the last two weeks; he'd been very run-down, been having a slightly raised temperature, and pains in his joints for no reason at all. He was just so tired of being sick. He slowly started to sit up in bed and immediately felt light-headed. He took a few minutes to steady himself, then started to stand. He was relieved not to feel any dizziness this time, and walked out to the kitchen. He spotted their four friends sitting at the table as Monica made them all some breakfast.

"He's awake." Joey was the first to spot him standing there.

"Hey, Sleepyhead." Phoebe greeted him.

"Hey honey, how are you feeling today?" Monica went to him.

"I have a migraine." he mumbled as he got light-headed again. "And you're starting to look a little blurry."

"Come on. Let's lie you down." She slowly led him to the couch without any protests.

"Thank you." he slowly lay back and started to close his eyes again.

"And I'm making you an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow." she briefly felt his forehead. "You've been like this all week."

"Whatever you say." He mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"You know he's been sick longer than a week." Rachel softly told Monica as she joined them in the kitchen again.

"I'm well aware of that." Monica told them all. "He's just really starting to scare me."

"So just take him to the doctor's now." Ross told her.

"I'll never be able to convince him no matter how sick he is." she sighed. "But I gave him a warning about it tomorrow."

As they all continued to converse in low tones about him, Chandler fell asleep again. He awoke briefly when everyone started to leave and they all told him to feel better. He waved to them weakly as they all walked out the door. Monica gave him a plate of dry toast as she felt his forehead again.

"Mon, please." he looked at her.

"Sorry." she smiled at him. "I'm going down to do the laundry. Will you be ok by yourself for awhile?"

"I'll be fine. I'll probably just sleep the whole time anyway. I'm so exhausted." He told her as he started to fall back to sleep again.

At lunchtime, the five of them gathered at Joey's place to give Chandler some peace and quiet. Monica came in after checking in on Chandler and sighed deeply as she took one of the sandwiches that Joey had made for her.

"How's he doing, Mon?" Joey asked.

"He may be a little worse." she sighed again. "He has no fever, but he just seems so restless even while he's sleeping."

"Well, I hope he gets better." Ross stood up. "I should get back to work. I think I left my notes for my lecture in your apartment, Mon. Do you mind if I go in there real quick and get them?"

"Go ahead. Just try not to disturb Chandler while you're in there."

"I won't." he assured her as he walked out of Joey's apartment.

Ross walked into Monica and Chandler's apartment and scanned the kitchen for his notes. He had just spotted them when he spotted Chandler as well. He was laying face down and sprawled out in the kitchen in between the sink and the refrigerator.

"Chandler?" He went to him and tried to shake him awake. "Come on, man. Wake up."

There was a glass near his outstretched hand; Ross assumed that he had been trying to get himself a drink when he collapsed.

"Monica!" he called frantically through the closed door, hoping that she would hear him. He didn't want to leave Chandler by himself for even one minute.

"Ross, what's the matter?" Monica rushed in with the other three following her and spotted her brother kneeling beside her husband. "Oh my god."

"He was like this when I came in." Ross told her as she walked closer to them.

"One of you, call 911." Monica looked back at the other three.

"I'm on it." Rachel picked up the phone from the counter as Monica knelt beside Chandler's still form.

"Come on, honey. Wake up." she cried as she softly shook him. "Let me see those eyes of yours."

"Is he ok?" Joey knelt beside them.

"He's burning up." Monica felt his forehead. "Where is that ambulance?"

"They're on their way." Rachel told her. "Phoebe just went down to meet them."

"They're here." Phoebe rushed in from the hall a few moments later, followed by two EMTs pushing a gurney.

"How long has he been sick?" One asked as they got Chandler turned over onto his back and shone a penlight in each of his eyes.

"A couple weeks. Possibly more." Monica told them, watching as they continued to check Chandler over.

"We're ready to transport." the other EMT said as they got Chandler loaded onto the gurney and covered his mouth with an oxygen mask.

"I'm his wife. I'm riding with him." Monica told them.

"We'll meet you there." Ross told her as they all watched them push Chandler out of the apartment and down the flights of stairs.

Monica followed them out with the others following as well. When they got to the street, Monica climbed into the back of the ambulance with Chandler and the doors shut behind her as the others hailed a cab.

Monica took Chandler's hand in hers as she watched the EMTs working all around them. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled when she saw his eyes flicker open. He looked around him in confusion until he saw her sitting next to him.

"Hey, honey." she squeezed his hand as his eyes fell closed again.

The ambulance reached the hospital and they rushed Chandler through the emergency department. They pushed him behind a curtained area and immediately started working to lower his high temperature.

The other four reached the hospital a little while later after the cab had finally worked its way through the heavy New York traffic. They finally found Monica standing outside a cubicle as she watched a doctor and some nurses work over Chandler.

"How is he, Mon?" Phoebe asked her.

"He came to for a moment in the ambulance. But he couldn't keep his eyes open."

"Mrs. Bing," a nurse went to her. "Does your husband have asthma?"

"No."

"He had it when he was younger." Ross spoke up. "He hasn't had an attack since he was in junior high."

"How did you know that?" Monica looked at him. "I didn't even know that."

"He told me in college." Ross shrugged. "It hasn't been a problem for him for years."

"He does seem to have a respiratory problem." the other nurse attached an IV to Chandler's left hand and hung a bag on the IV pole.

"He's very dehydrated. And his fever has spiked to a dangerous level." the doctor came over to speak to them. "I'm going to transfer him to the ICU so we can monitor him more closely. They'll most likely give him an ice bath to try to lower his temperature."

"I'm coming with you." Monica stated firmly.

"Of course." The doctor agreed and Monica followed close behind them as they pushed Chandler out and down the hall.

Monica walked into Chandler's hospital room after they finished getting him settled. She sat close to the bed and took his hand. They had kept him in the ice bath for forty-five minutes before they were able to get his temperature lowered to a stable level. After that, they placed ice packs in between his groin and each of his armpits to keep it stabilized. After they were finally satisfied that his temperature wouldn't rise again, they transferred him to his own room.

There was a light knock on the door and she looked up as her brother and the other three followed him in. They spotted Chandler laying motionless on the bed with a blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. He had an oxygen tube in his nose as well as a tube in one of his nostrils. His breathing was raspy even as he slept restlessly.

"How's he doing?" Ross asked as the others silently walked in behind him and they all gathered around the bed. "What'd the doctor say?"

"They think it might be walking pneumonia. They're going to monitor him for the next few days. They gave him a cooling blanket to try to lower his temperature; which is probably why he's so restless right now."

"We'd like to stay, but they won't let us since we're not immediate family." Rachel informed her. "So we're going back home, but call us immediately if there's any change with him at all."

"I will. I promise." Monica assured them. "I'm going to be spending the night, so could you guys bring me a change of clothes when you can? And some of my other necessities?"

"Of course we will. You can count on it." Phoebe told her as they all took turns giving her hugs goodbye as they demanded Chandler to get better as he slept on.

They all walked out of Chandler's room and started towards the elevators.

"I can't believe that was Chandler in that bed. He looked so fragile." Joey mumbled as they reached the elevator. "He'll be fine, right?"

"Of course he will. I mean, it's Chandler." Ross told them as they got into the elevator.

* * *

Monica fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair next to Chandler's bed still clutching his hand firmly in hers. She awoke suddenly and realized that the night nurse must've brought in a pillow and a blanket for her sometime during the night. She looked towards the bed and saw some movement and immediately stood up and went to the bed.

"Chandler, are you awake?" she asked softly.

"Mon?" he turned his head in the direction of her voice.

"Hey. Welcome back."

"What happened?" his voice came out scratchy and he started coughing.

"I'll be right back, ok?" he nodded as she walked out of the room.

She returned a few moments later with a small paper cup and a plastic spoon. "These should make your throat feel better." she held the spoonful of ice chips up to his mouth and he accepted it. "Don't chew them. Let them dissolve."

"Ok." he looked at her. "Now tell me what happened. How'd I end up here?"

"You collapsed yesterday afternoon. We had to call an ambulance." she sat beside him on the bed. "You had a very high fever so they gave you an ice bath. But your temperature finally stabilized."

"And this tube that's shoved down my nose?"

"There was some fluid buildup in your lungs. They'll probably take it out later today."

"So do they know what's wrong with me then?"

"They said it's walking pneumonia. You should be fine in a few days." she assured him as he let out a yawn. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"I won't be able to sleep with this freezing cold blanket." he shivered.

"It's a cooling blanket." she told him. "They want you to keep it on to help keep your body temperature stabilized."

"I'm never going to be able to sleep." he murmured.

"I'll lay here with you, ok?" she lay down beside him and held him as they rested their heads against each other.

"Love you, Mon." he whispered.

"Love you, too." she smiled as they both eventually drifted off again.

Monica awoke again from her sound sleep next to Chandler on the hospital bed when she felt movement next to her. She slowly sat up and saw Chandler trying to sit up on the bed.

"Chandler," she looked at him.

"Hey," he smiled at her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"What are you trying to do?"

"Sit in an upright position." he told her. "And to see if I can get this annoying tube out of my nose."

"I'll go see if the doctor is here yet." she kissed his forehead. "And call the others."

"Hurry back." he told her.

"I promise." she smiled at him as she left his room.

Chandler reached over on the small table beside his bed and picked up the remote for the small TV that was mounted up on the wall in the corner. He clicked it on and started flipping through the channels, hoping to find something that would keep him occupied for a little while.

The door opened a little bit later and Monica came in followed by a silver-haired doctor. Chandler turned off the TV and sat up a little straighter as Monica joined him by his bedside.

"Good morning, Mr. Bing. I'm Dr. Steele, I was your treating physician when you came in yesterday." the doctor offered his hand and Chandler shook it. "So how are you feeling this morning?"

"A little tired. And I'm freezing."

"Let me just take your temperature here and we'll see if it's down where we want it. If everything looks good, we'll get rid of the blanket and that tube as well."

"Good." Chandler sighed.

"And I want to get your blood drawn later today as well."

"Why do you need to draw his blood?" Monica asked him.

"It's just a precaution." Dr. Steele assured them. "A couple of his preliminary tests came back showing an abnormality."

"That doesn't sound good." Chandler said.

"It's most likely nothing. It was a little chaotic when you were first brought in yesterday. We had to rush you in for that ice bath, so your tests were probably compromised. We're going to take more blood samples just to be on the safe side."

"All right."

"A nurse will be in shortly to take care of all of that. And breakfast should be in shortly as well." Dr. Steele told them. "Try to get some more rest, and we're probably looking at sometime tomorrow for your release."

"Thank you." Monica told him as he left the room and Chandler sighed.

* * *

Everyone else was gathered at Joey's apartment for breakfast, waiting on any news on Chandler. It looked as if none of them had gotten any sleep last night; they were all too worried about Chandler. None of them were talking; just eating whatever was in front of them mindlessly as they kept glancing at the phone, willing it to ring. The phone started to ring and Rachel snatched it up off the counter as the other three listened to her side of the conversation.

"Hello? Monica, thank goodness. We were anxiously waiting for some kind of news. Is there any change with Chandler? He's awake? Oh, thank god. Yes. Tell him that we're all on our way." she hung up and smiled with relief as she saw the other three looking at her intently.

"Chandler's awake?" Joey spoke up.

"Yes. He awoke during the night briefly. He fully awoke a little more than an hour ago."

"Well, let's get down there." Ross stated and they all hurried to finish their breakfasts and rushed out and got a cab to take them to the hospital.

They finally reached the hospital about a half hour later and went in search of Chandler's room. They started to go into his room when they found that Monica and Chandler weren't the only ones in the room. Chandler was sitting up on the bed and had a pained look on his face. His color looked a lot better this morning and the tube was gone from his nose. Monica stood on one side of him and a nurse on the other side as she withdrew some blood from his arm.

"Ok. That should be good enough." the nurse walked past the four gathered in the doorway with the vials of blood.

"You know what they say, the fifth time's the charm." Chandler mumbled as he looked at Monica and she rubbed his arm.

"They had a hard time finding your vein." she told him as she spotted everyone by the door. "Hey. Look honey, everyone's here to see us."

"Speak for yourself." Phoebe spoke up as they all came farther into the room. "We're here to see Chandler."

"It's so good to see you awake." Ross told him.

"Did I scare you guys?" Chandler looked at each of them.

"A little bit." Rachel went to him and gave him a hug.

"How are you feeling?" Phoebe asked him.

"I'm better." he smiled at them. "Still a little tired. And my arm's sore now."

"Why were they taking a blood sample anyway?" Ross asked.

"They need to run a couple more tests." Monica told them. "A couple of his tests were abnormal when they came back."

"That doesn't sound good." Ross said.

"That's what I said." Chandler told him.

"The doctor said it's most likely nothing. It was a little hectic when he was brought in. A couple of his preliminary tests were compromised with all the confusion."

"Joe?" Chandler saw him still standing in the doorway. "Are you ok?"

"I think you really scared him yesterday." Rachel told him softly. "He's been very quiet since we found you passed out on the floor."

"Joe, I'm fine." Chandler told him.

"Yeah?" he slowly walked to the bed.

"Yeah." Chandler assured him.

"Breakfast." The door opened and an orderly came in with a tray. "The doctor wants you to try to eat as much as you can before you go for your tests."

"It looks so tasty." Chandler mumbled as the orderly left and Monica took the lid off the tray of food.

"We'll try to bring you some outside food for lunch." Joey told him. "Maybe a burger or a pizza or something."

"Just try to eat a little something." Monica told him. "You have practically nothing in your stomach right now."

"Ok." Chandler sighed as he stopped picking at the unidentifiable food and tried to take a few bites.

More than an hour later, the doctor came in followed by a nurse with a wheelchair.

"We're ready to start the tests, Mr. Bing." Dr. Steele told him.

"All right." Chandler sighed as he started to climb out of the bed.

"Is it all right if I go with him?" Monica asked the doctor.

"Absolutely." the doctor assured her. "Just try not to interfere with his tests."

"Like that'll happen." Chandler mumbled, causing both Joey and Ross who were standing near him to stifle their laughs.

"I heard that." Monica glared at him.

"It's the truth." Chandler gave her one of his trademark smirks.

"Let's just go so you can get these dreaded tests over with." She told him.

Chandler slowly climbed off the bed and sat down in the wheelchair. The nurse started to push him out of the room as Monica rushed to followed after them.

A few hours later, Chandler was still getting his tests done. They all got bored and started to roam the halls. Joey was hitting on some nurses at the front desk on Chandler's floor, Ross was on another floor doing they had no idea what, and Rachel and Phoebe went down to the first floor to find a vending machine. They turned a corner and found Monica standing in the hallway outside a room in the radiology department. They went to her and peered into the room where Chandler was undergoing another test.

They watched inside the room as Chandler was helped out of the wheelchair and up onto a plastic table, that by the looks of it would soon be pushed inside a circular tube. The technician inside the room was preparing the machine for whatever test they were getting ready to do.

"How's it going, Mon?" Rachel asked her.

"I hope this is his last test." she sighed as she watched the activity going on inside the room.

"How many has he had?"

"Too many. I lost count." she sighed. "So far, he's had to get chest x-rays, an MRI, and some others that I can't remember."

"What test are they doing now?" Phoebe asked her as the table with Chandler on it started to move.

"A CT scan." they watched as Chandler was moved inside the machine and there were some flashes of light. "I really hope he's doing ok. He can get claustrophobic at times."

A little bit later, Chandler was pulled out of the circular tube and an orderly helped him back into the wheelchair. He was pushed out of the room and met up with the girls out in the hall. He glanced at them before closing his eyes as the orderly started to push him down the hall.

"How was it?" Monica asked Chandler.

"Horrible." he said softly. "I'm feeling a little nauseous."

"Was that his last test?" Monica looked at the orderly.

"Yes. We should have the results back by morning."

"You can rest now, honey." Monica told Chandler as they reached his room again.

Monica and the orderly helped him back onto the bed as Rachel and Phoebe waited out in the hall. The orderly left the room with the wheelchair as Monica covered him with the blankets.

"Just rest right now, honey." she brushed his hair away from his face and kissed his forehead gently. "I'm going with Phoebe and Rachel down to the cafeteria. I'll come back in a couple hours."

"Ok." he mumbled softly as he slowly drifted off to sleep and she walked out into the hall and met up with Rachel and Phoebe.

"All those tests really wore him out." she told them. "He'll most likely sleep for awhile. Let's go find Joey and Ross. Make sure that they're not causing any trouble."

"Of course." they walked down the hall to find them, leaving a sleeping Chandler behind.

**AN: **So what'd you think? Better or worse than the original? PLZ R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **So here's another update. I'm glad there's a few of you who are supportive of me rewriting this story. Keep leaving those reviews. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 2**

Monica awoke early one morning and was rushing around as Joey sat at the table eating some cereal. It was the first night since Chandler was admitted to the hospital that she had spent in the apartment. Chandler was doing a lot better and with any luck, today Chandler would be able to come home. But that all depended on what all his tests said when they finally came back.

"Joey, did you want to come with me to get Chandler?" Monica looked at him.

"You wouldn't mind?" he looked up at her, hopeful.

"Of course not." she smiled at him as the phone rang and she went to answer it. "Hello? Yes, this is Monica Bing. Is everything all right with Chandler? What kind of problem is there? No. If it's bad news, I'd like to know first so I can prepare my husband. Just tell me. What? A-Are you sure? No, don't tell him. I will tell him when I get there. Just make sure that no one else tells him. I'll be there soon."

"Monica, what is it?" Joey asked her as she slowly hung up the phone, seeing how upset she was. "Does it have anything to do with Chandler's test results?"

"It's bad, Joey." she said softly. "It's really bad."

"What'd they say?"

"Chandler has cancer." she finally looked up at him.

"What?" he went to her and looked her in the eye. "Are they sure?"

"I have to figure out a way to tell him. How do I tell him?"

"It's going to be ok." he held her tightly. "We will all help you guys through this."

"Hey, Mon." the door opened suddenly and Ross came in followed by Phoebe and Rachel, but they all stopped when they saw them. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"The doctor just called with Chandler's test results." Joey told them. "It's bad news."

"How bad?" Rachel asked.

"Really bad."

"What's wrong with Chandler?" Phoebe asked.

"He has cancer." Monica told them softly. "I have to figure out a way to tell him. How do I tell him this?"

"What kind does he have? How progressed is it?" Ross asked. "What kind of treatment will they do?"

"They're going to run a few more tests to determine how advanced it is."

"So Chandler doesn't know yet?" Phoebe asked.

"I told the doctor I wanted to tell him myself. I just have to figure out how. How do I tell my husband that he may be dying?"

"We'll be there with you." Ross told her. "We can be in the room when you tell him if you want us to."

"I'm going to talk to him privately."

"That's probably a good idea." Rachel told her. "But we'll be there if you need us."

"Thank you." Monica said softly as Joey held her again.

They all made their way to the hospital a little while later as Monica thought of ways how she would break the news to Chandler when she saw him. Monica left everyone else in the waiting room as she walked towards Chandler's room. She slowly walked into his room and smiled as she saw him sitting up in bed and slowly eating off a breakfast tray.

"Hey, honey." she smiled at him. "Is there anything good today?"

"Not really. Nothing compares to your food." he pushed the tray away. "So did you talk to the doctor before you got here?"

"What do you mean?" She started to panic, thinking that one of the nurses let something slip to him.

"When do I get to go home?"

"Tomorrow possibly." she sighed with relief. "They need to run a few more tests on you before you can go."

"More tests?" he sighed.

"A couple of your tests-"

"What's going on?"

"Ok. I need to tell you something." she sat beside him on the bed. "I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I will be here with you every step of the way."

"Ok. You're scaring me." Chandler sat up more on the bed. "Will you please tell me what is going on."

"Ok. I got a call from the doctor this morning. They found something in your tests."

"What did they find?"

"There's just no easy way to say this." Monica sighed as she looked him in the eye and took his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Honey, you have cancer."

"What?"

"It's going to be ok."

"How can you say that?" Chandler's voice started to crack.

"Because I'm going to be there with you through everything. No matter what happens, you won't be able to get rid of me."

"But what's going to happen?"

"The guys are down the hall in the waiting room. I'm going to get them so they can see you, then I'm going to go find the doctor so we can all talk about what our next step is."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to see anyone yet." Chandler looked at her.

"I'll give you another five minutes, then I'm going to send everyone in. They're all really anxious to see you."

"Ok." Chandler nodded as she held him in her arms as they cried together.

Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe glanced towards Chandler's room while Ross talked on the phone with his parents. Rachel and Phoebe were trying to keep themselves occupied by reading through all the magazines spread out on the tables. Joey started pacing the floor all around them until Ross stopped him.

"Dude, you're kind of driving us crazy with that." he told him.

"I just want to see Chandler. I can't stand this."

"We all want to see him, Joe. Monica needs to tell him first. Then she'll come out and get us so that we can see him."

"I know. You're right."Joey sat down beside Phoebe.

"Oh no." Rachel sat up as she saw Monica and Chandler crying and hugging. "I think she told him."

"I can't believe this." Joey sighed. "I can't believe that this is happening to Chandler."

"We have to stay upbeat." Phoebe told them. "We have to keep his spirits up no matter how bad it gets."

"Agreed."

Fifteen minutes later, Monica came out to them wiping her eyes. They all went to her and held her.

"How is he, Mon?" Joey asked her.

"He's ready to see you guys now." she told them.

"How'd he take it?" Rachel asked.

"Not great, but he wants to see all of you."

"I called mom and dad. They're very worried about the both of you. They want to come down." Ross told her. "And I left messages with Chandler's parents, too."

"Let's go see Chandler." Phoebe stood up and they all followed her to his room.

They walked into Chandler's room and saw him with his head laying back against the pillows. They could see the tear stains on his face as he turned his head to look at all of them.

"Hey, buddy." Joey greeted him. "How are you doing?"

"Well, a minute ago, my world came crashing down around me." he mumbled, his voice coming out all raspy.

"Don't talk like that." Rachel went to him and hugged him tightly. "We will not let you give up, ok?"

"Not a chance." Phoebe told him. "We will all help you as much as we can. And the moment we think you're about to give up, we will all be on your case. Forcing you to keep fighting."

"I understand." Chandler forced a smile on his face.

"Ok." Monica came in. "The doctor is finishing up his rounds. The nurse said he'll be here in a little bit to talk to us about our next step."

"I called and left messages with your parents." Ross told Chandler. "I hope they get them soon."

"That's hard to say." Chandler told him.

"Mr. Bing," Dr. Steele came in with another doctor followed by a nurse with a metal tray filled with medical supplies.

"Time for more tests." Chandler sighed.

"I'd like to talk to just Monica and Chandler, please." Dr. Steele told them.

"We'll be right outside." Rachel told them as they all filed out of the room again.

Monica took Chandler's hand as the nurse moved the tray closer to the bed. Chandler tensed up as he spotted all the metal instruments spread out before him.

"Chandler, Monica, I'd like you to meet my Colleague. This is Dr. Brown. He's an oncologist. He'll be taking over your care from this point on."

"So what will you be doing today?" Monica asked.

"We have to run a couple more tests to see how progressed it is and how far it's spread."

"What kind of cancer do I have?" Chandler asked softly as Monica took his hand.

"Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Or ALL for short." Dr. Brown started to explain to them. "It affects the white blood cells. They help your body fight infection."

"So what tests will you do on him today?" Monica asked.

"The first one is a lumbar puncture. Or a spinal tap. We're doing this to see if it's spread to the brain and spinal cord; or the Central Nervous System."

"You're going into my spine?" Chandler asked.

"It'll be ok." Monica assured him as she squeezed his hand. "I'll stay with you the entire time. You won't be alone in this."

"Thank you." Chandler looked at her.

"Why don't we get this started." the doctor had Chandler turn onto his side as Monica took his hand and he clutched it tightly as he felt the needle pierce his skin.

The others were pacing the hall outside Chandler's room when they heard him scream. They all turned around and peered through the window as they saw Chandler on his side facing Monica as she clutched his hand and stroked his hair. The oncologist was standing behind him as the nurse had a needle inserted into his back.

"What are they doing to him?" Joey asked as he was transfixed on the fact that his friend was going through a lot of pain at that moment.

"It's a lumbar puncture. To see if the cancer has spread to his brain." Ross explained to them. "It's a painful experience."

"He does look like he's in pain." Rachel agreed.

"The procedure is not a walk in the park." Ross added.

Chandler relaxed as the needle was withdrawn from his back and the doctor helped him roll back over so that he was laying flat on his back.

"It's over now, honey." Monica told him.

"That was horrible." he mumbled.

"We'll give you fifteen minutes to recover from that, then we're going to take you down to radiology to get a bone marrow biopsy." Dr. Brown told him as he made some notes in Chandler's chart.

"How bad will this one hurt?" Chandler mumbled as the others came back into them.

"You're going to be put to sleep for this one."

"How are you doing, Chandler?" Phoebe asked as she approached the bed first.

"You couldn't hear me?" he turned his head to look at them.

"Yeah. Just trying to make conversation."

More than twenty minutes later, Dr. Brown started to push Chandler out of his room. Monica followed close behind with the others not that far behind. They reached radiology and Dr. Brown pushed Chandler into one of the rooms. Monica followed them inside the room as the others waited outside and watched.

A couple orderlies helped Chandler onto the exam table and covered his bottom half with a blanket. Dr. Brown instructed Chandler to roll onto his side again and the nurse put an oxygen mask over his mouth.

"I'll see you when you wake up." Monica told him.

"I love you." he mouthed to her.

"I love you, too." his eyes slowly closed and his breathing got deeper.

Monica watched as the nurse lifted the back of Chandler's gown and swabbed an area with an alcohol wipe. They inserted a hollow needle into his hipbone and Monica started to tear up. His hip popped as they withdrew fluid from it and Monica slowly stroked the side of his face.

They finished the procedure and started to push Chandler out of the room. Monica immediately went to Phoebe and Rachel and they hugged her. Ross and Joey watched from a distance as the orderlies started to push Chandler down the hall.

"He's already suffering." Monica whispered as they all started to follow the orderlies down the hall. "And he hasn't even started treatment yet."

"It'll be ok." Rachel assured her. "You'll both get through this. You just have to be strong for Chandler."

"I know. Thank you." They reached Chandler's room and Monica waited off to the side as they finished getting him situated on the bed again.

Monica sat beside the bed and took Chandler's hand in hers. She pushed his stray bangs out of his face as he continued to sleep off the medication they had given him. The others watched from out in the hall as Monica had a one-sided conversation. They all exchanged looks as they realized this was just the beginning of a very long road for both Monica as well as Chandler.

* * *

The next morning, Chandler awoke to find Monica fast asleep next to him on the small hospital bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he felt movement next to him. He smiled as Monica slowly opened her eyes and looked over at him.

"Morning." he greeted her.

"Hey." she stretched. "How'd you sleep?"

"All right, I think." he slowly sat up and lay his head back as she got off the bed and sat in a nearby chair. "Did you really stay here with me all night?"

"Of course." she smiled. "I didn't want you to be alone in case they needed to do more tests on you."

"Have they scheduled anymore?"

"Not that I'm aware of." she sighed. "But the doctor was talking about putting in a port-a-cath before they release you."

"What's that?"

"It's a central line that goes under the skin near your collar bone. It will make it easier for them to administer your treatments so they don't have to keep sticking you with needles."

"So that means surgery to put it in?"

"It wouldn't be long at all. Maybe fifteen minutes at the most."

"Ok." he sighed as there was a knock on the door and Ross and Rachel came in.

"Hey, guys." Monica smiled at them.

"Morning," Rachel smiled back. "How are you feeling today, Chandler?"

"I'm ok for now." he told them.

"Mon, I brought you some clothes." Rachel told her. "The nurses said you could use the family bathrooms down the hall if you want."

"Translation: They think you smell and need a shower." Chandler smirked.

"I'll be right back, ok?" Monica smiled at him as she took the bag from Rachel.

"Take your time. I'll be here."

Monica spent a little longer in the bathroom than she planned, but it felt good to get cleaned up and refreshed. She gathered her things and walked out into the hall as she saw Rachel rushing down the hall towards her.

"What's the matter?" she asked her. "Is Chandler ok?"

"He's fine." Rachel rushed to assure her. "He just has some visitors, and he seems to be getting a little agitated."

"Who's in his room with him?"

"Your parents. They showed up a little bit ago."

"Where's Ross?" Monica asked, knowing that her brother would be the buffer between her and her parents.

"He's on the phone with Carol. He forgot that he was supposed to get Ben today, so he's explaining to Carol what's been going on."

"All right. I'm going to go save Chandler." Monica walked down the hall and into Chandler's room.

She walked in and spotted her parents sitting near the bed as Chandler lay back on the bed with Joey on the opposite side of the bed.

"Mom, dad, you came." Monica greeted cheerfully and she saw complete relief wash over Chandler's face. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."

"We wanted to make sure that you guys were all right after everything that's gone on the last few days." Jack got up to give his daughter a hug.

"We're ok." Monica smiled at her father. "It's still a little hard to cope with right now, but we're trying to adjust."

"Dr. Brown's going to be coming back in a little while." Joey told her. "To discuss doing that procedure later today."

"Are you ok, honey?" Monica leaned down to adjust Chandler's pillows.

"Your parents are here." he stated. "And they're annoying me."

"If I could live through it my entire life, you can get through a half hour." she whispered.

"I know." he mumbled.

"We were just telling Chandler that we're more than happy to help you both out." Judy spoke up. "Whether it's financially or emotionally."

"Thank you, mom. We appreciate it." Monica told her parents. "But we'll be fine. We have a support system in place. But if we need some back up, we'll let you know."

"Good morning," the door opened and Dr. Brown came into them. "I'd like to talk to Chandler and Monica privately if I may."

"We'll be right down the hall." Joey told them. "Come on, Gellars."

Monica sat beside Chandler on the bed as the three of them left and Dr. Brown came closer to the bed as he looked through Chandler's chart.

"How are you feeling today, Chandler?"

"It still feels a little unreal." Chandler admitted

"Has Monica explained to you what we planned on for today?"

"Yeah. The port-a-cath."

"We want to plan on doing it mid-afternoon. It's a very simple procedure. It'll last approximately twenty minutes, then you'll be back in here."

"So when will I start my treatments?"

"We want to give you a chance to recover from the pneumonia. Given no complications, we'll start you on a regimen in a few days."

"Ok."

"Right now, I want you to try to eat something. And I'll see you in a few hours."

"Thank you." Monica told him as he left the room again.

A few hours later, Dr. Brown came in with one of the nurses to get Chandler ready to go down for the procedure. Everyone was gathered around the bed as the nurse started to release the brakes on the bed.

"I'll see you in about a half hour, ok honey?" Monica told him.

"I know." Chandler whispered.

"You'll be fine." Chandler nodded as he was rolled out of the room and down the hall.

Monica was sitting in the waiting room surrounded by her friends and her parents as she slowly sipped a can of Diet Coke. The doors opened and they all looked up as someone rushed into them.

"Monica," she was enveloped in a tight hug.

"Carol?" she returned the embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"When Ross told me what was going on, I had to get down here as soon as I could." she explained to her. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're adjusting."

"So what's going on now?"

"He's getting a procedure performed to get a central line inserted." Monica glanced at her watch. "He should be out soon."

"I hope it's all right if I go in and see him."

"Of course. I know you guys were very close friends in college."

"We were lab partners in Chem." she smiled. "He was the reason why Ross and I got together. If it wasn't for him, there would be no Ben."

"Mrs. Bing?" they all looked up and saw Dr. Brown.

"How's Chandler doing?" Monica jumped up.

"He just got out of Post-Op. He's back in his room."

"But he's ok?"

"He's coming out of the anesthesia. He's asking for you."

Monica walked down the hall towards Chandler's room and walked in to see him laying motionless on the bed as a nurse checked his monitors. She spotted Monica there and motioned for her to come closer. Monica took his hand and he started to moan.

"Please. Just go get her." he mumbled.

"Get who?" she started to stroke his cheek as his eyes opened.

"You." he smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Woozy." he mumbled. "You look a little blurry."

"Why don't you get some more sleep? I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I won't leave you." she assured him as his eyes closed again and he fell back into his deep sleep.

* * *

A couple days later, they were all anxious for Chandler to finally come home from the hospital. Rachel, Phoebe, and Ross were in Monica and Chandler's apartment waiting for them along with Jack and Judy Gellar as well as Carol and Susan with Ben. The Gellars spent the entire time at the hospital with Monica and Chandler; they both got a little frustrated with them, but truthfully Monica liked having her parents there to help her through it. Carol visited with Chandler a few times when he was more alert and promised him to bring his godson by the apartment as soon as he was released. Joey went to the hospital early that morning to help Monica get Chandler back home all right.

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Rachel checked her watch again.

"They most likely had to run some tests on him before they would let him leave." Jack told them.

"Or they probably got stuck in traffic." Ross added.

"I want to see Uncle Chandler." Ben stated as he looked up from playing with his toys with Emma.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon." Susan told him.

"We're home." they heard the door open and turned around to see Monica coming in followed closely behind by Chandler and Joey.

"How are you feeling today?" Phoebe went to Chandler.

"Tired." he mumbled. "Didn't sleep well last night. I was so nauseous from all those tests they continuously performed on me."

"Go ahead and lay down on the couch, honey." Monica told him. "I'll make you some soup if you're up to it."

"That'd be great." he slowly went to the couch and lay back as Ben climbed up beside him and Emma pulled herself up by the couch as Chandler smiled at them and lifted Emma up onto his lap.

The others followed Monica into the kitchen as she got a can of soup out of the cupboard and started to heat it up over the stove.

"So what's going on?" Ross asked her. "Did you get any of the test results back yet?"

"His spinal tap came back negative." Monica sighed as she stirred the soup. "The cancer hasn't spread to his brain, so we found it early. Dr. Brown said that if he hadn't been sick, we wouldn't have found it until it was much more advanced."

"That's good news." Rachel assured her.

"They want him to start chemo tomorrow." Monica revealed to them.

"So soon?" Phoebe asked.

"He said that the sooner we start, the better the chance we have of beating this." Monica started to fill a bowl with Chandler's soup as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Monica picked it up. "Who is this? Oh. Hi. How are you? Yes. He just got home. He's had a long night. I'll see if he's up to talking to anyone right now."

Monica walked to the couch and saw Chandler wide awake as he tried to make small talk with Jack and Judy as Ben tried to engage into the conversation as well.

"Honey, someone's on the phone for you." she held the phone out to him. "Are you up to talking to anyone?"

"Sure." he sat up. "Who is it?"

"Just talk." she handed him the phone.

"Hello?" Chandler listened for a moment. "Dad?"

"His dad?" Ross looked at Monica. "I guess he got my messages."

"Dad, I'm fine." Chandler spoke into the phone. "Just a little tired. I promise. I'm supposed to start the chemo treatments tomorrow. Yeah. I'd really like that. If I'm up to it then. Ok. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Did I hear you say that he's coming out to see you?" Monica asked him.

"He's going to try to next week sometime."

"I'm glad. You should hang out with him." she smiled at him. "The soup just finished, so are you still hungry?"

"Yeah." he sat up a little more as Rachel came to pick Emma up off his lap and Monica brought a tray over to him with the bowl of soup, some crackers, and a glass of ginger ale and placed it over his lap.

Chandler started to slowly eat the soup as Ben talked his ear off about his favorite comic books and what happened at school. The others joined them in the living room and listened in while Jack and Judy offered to help them out as much as they could.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? Better than the original? PLZ R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Another update for you guys. I hope you're liking this rewrite. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 3**

The night before he was supposed to go in for his first chemo treatment, Chandler and Monica were in bed trying to get some sleep. Chandler kept tossing and turning to try to get comfortable as he tried not to think about his first chemo treatment in the morning. Monica was facing away from him trying not to let him know that she was still awake.

"Chandler," she finally turned over and looked at him, "Do you feel like talking?"

"Yeah." he turned on his side to face her. "I'm scared."

"It's ok. I'm scared too." she took his hand. "But I believe that we can beat this. If we stay strong. And if we stick together through all this, and if we stay truthful with each other about what we're both going through."

"I'm not sure I can handle this." Chandler admitted. "Feeling sick all the time, throwing up from the treatments that are supposed to make me better, losing my hair, and countless other side effects that I'll start experiencing tomorrow."

"We will get through this." she rested her head on his chest. "I will be here with you every step of the way. And so will the others. We're all here for you."

"I know." he sighed. "And I love you all for that. It's just-so much is happening so fast."

"I know." she looked up at him. "Come on. We'd better get some sleep. We have to be at the hospital early tomorrow."

"Yeah. You're right." they both settled back into bed and tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, Phoebe came by before they left for the hospital. Monica was getting cereal out when she walked in. Chandler was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey. You're still here." Phoebe greeted Monica.

"We have about an hour before we have to be there." Monica told her.

"Where's Chandler? Is he still sleeping?"

"No. He's taking a shower. We both had a late start this morning. Neither of us got much sleep last night."

"That's understandable. It's a lot to deal with in such a short amount of time."

"Yeah." Monica poured herself a bowl of cereal, but didn't make any attempt to eat it.

"How long will his treatments last?" Phoebe asked her as she joined her at the table.

"A few hours."

"Is he allowed any visitors while he goes through the treatments?"

"I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

"If you guys are still there after lunch, we were all going to stop by."

"That'd be fine. But don't bring any food. Who knows what kind of reaction he'll have to the treatments."

"I'll remind Joey of that." Phoebe assured her as Monica got up from the table and went to the bathroom door.

"Chandler," Monica knocked on the door. "Are you almost done? You need to eat something before we leave."

"I'm done." The door opened and Chandler slowly walked out. "But I don't have much of an appetite. I'm too nervous."

"You need to eat something. How about some toast?"

"Sure. All right." he sat at the table across from Phoebe.

"Want some orange juice?" Phoebe got up to pour him a glass.

"Thanks." he took it from her and took a small drink. Monica brought over his plate of toast and he slowly started eating.

"I'd better get to work." Phoebe got up. "Good luck today, Chandler. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Phoebe." he waved to her as she walked out of the apartment.

Chandler managed to eat all of the toast and drink most of the orange juice while Monica attempted to make some kind of conversation with him. Before either of them realized, they had to leave for the hospital.

"Ok. Let's go." Monica told him after she finished cleaning up the kitchen. She grabbed her purse and saw Chandler's face. "It'll be ok. I'll stay with you the entire time. I promise."

"I know." He said softly as he took her hand and they walked out of the apartment.

The cab ride to the hospital was spent in total silence. Monica didn't know what she could tell Chandler to make him feel better, and Chandler just wanted to spend some time in total silence. So they just held firmly onto each others' hands as they neared their destination.

When they arrived at the hospital, they went to the Oncology department to check in. Monica started to fill out the paperwork while a couple nurses took Chandler down the hall to get situated in his room. Chandler slowly sat in the cushioned chair and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt as they instructed him so they could get to the port-a-cath.

Monica walked into the room that she was directed to after finishing with the paperwork and found the nurses starting to administer his medicine. Chandler was sitting in a cushioned chair as the nurses hooked up the IV to his port-a-cath.

"How are you doing, honey?" Monica went to him.

"I just started." he winced as the nurse adjusted the IV.

"What's the matter?" she started to panic.

"Nothing. It's just sore."

"It'll be tender the first few times." one of the nurses told him as she hooked up another IV. "This is to counteract the nausea."

"Good." Chandler sighed.

"We'll be back in a little while to check and see how you're doing." the nurses walked out and Monica settled in the chair beside his.

"I went down to the gift shop and got some magazines to try to keep us occupied." She placed a small stack on her lap.

"Thank you." Chandler took one of the magazines and started flipping through it.

Chandler drifted off to sleep around lunchtime. Monica sat beside him as she held his hand and ran her fingers through his hair. There was a soft knock at the door and she looked up and smiled as she saw their friends coming into the room.

"Hey. How's he doing?" Rachel went to her.

"So far, so good. He fell asleep about an hour ago."

"Has he had any reactions to it?" Ross asked.

"Not yet."

"Have you been out of this room at all?" Phoebe asked.

"No. He was a little nervous about his first treatment. So I told him I'd stay with him the whole time."

"Well, he's sleeping now. Why don't we go get some coffee?"

"But what if he wakes up?"

"We'll stay with him." Joey and Ross sat down as Rachel pulled Monica up.

"And we'll be right down the hall." Phoebe assured her. "They can come get us if anything happens."

"All right." Monica reluctantly allowed them to start to pull her out of the room. "You guys just make sure that you come get me if anything at all happens. Big or small."

"We will. Don't worry." Joey assured her.

Monica walked out with Rachel and Phoebe as Joey and Ross got settled in some chairs by Chandler. Joey looked closer at his friend and saw his already-pale face.

"Does he look pale to you?" Joey looked at Ross. "Is that normal?"

"Yes." Ross assured him. "It's completely normal."

They had been sitting quietly for a few minutes when Chandler suddenly awoke and looked around. He spotted the new replacements as he slowly sat up on the chair.

"Hey." Chandler greeted them softly.

"How are you feeling, buddy?" Joey asked him.

"Fine." Chandler replied as he focused on not letting his breakfast come back up.

"Monica went down the hall with Phoebe and Rachel a little bit ago to get some coffee." Ross told him. "Would you like me to go get her?"

"No. Let her have a break."

"So how does it make you feel?" Joey asked.

"I don't really feel anything yet." Chandler got still a moment as he realized that he would soon be losing a battle. "Maybe I spoke too soon."

"Dude-" Joey saw Chandler take a few deep breaths as if he was fighting an inner battle.

"Find something for him." Ross and Joey searched and found a plastic bin.

Chandler wretched it out of their hands and held it in front of him as he saw his breakfast in reverse. Chandler's hands started shaking as his strength started waning and Ross held the bowl for him as much as he knew that this one simple act would be humiliating to his friend.

Down the hall, Monica sat in a chair beside Rachel and Phoebe at a small table. They all sat silently as they slowly sipped their coffees. Monica kept glancing at her watch to see how long she had been away from Chandler.

"It's ok for you to have a break." Rachel assured her, knowing how badly she wanted to stick to Chandler's side. "He knows you're there for him."

"I just want him to know that I'll always be with him. Through everything."

"He knows that." Phoebe told her. "But that doesn't mean that you can't take some time for yourself as well."

"It's been ten minutes." Monica looked at her watch again. "I really want to get back to Chandler."

"Sure. We can go back." they all discarded their coffees and headed back to the room.

When they walked in, they saw Joey and Ross huddled around Chandler. Joey was stationed behind the chair keeping a firm hold on him so that he would stay upright and Ross held a plastic bowl before Chandler as he was bent over it and spilling the contents of his stomach.

"Honey," Monica went to him and took over for Ross. "Are you ok?"

"He can't answer you right now." Ross looked at her.

"Should I go get someone?" Rachel spoke up. "Or is this normal for him?"

"It's probably normal. But go get someone anyway." Monica told her.

Rachel rushed out of the room as Monica started to rub Chandler's back as he seemed to finish up. Monica placed the back of her hand against his cheek and nodded as she saw him giving her a look.

"Look at me like that all you want, but you know that it's a necessity." she told him firmly and he nodded.

"I know." he rasped out.

"Feeling better?" she asked him.

"A little." he said softly as he saw Rachel return with one of the nurses.

"I see we've had a reaction already." Nurse Wendy went to Chandler and disposed of the contents of the plastic bin. "Let's see how your temperature is right now."

The others gave them room and watched as the nurse stuck a thermometer in his ear and Monica sat beside him and took his hand. There was a faint beep and the thermometer was removed from Chandler's ear canal.

"Everything is normal." the nurse assured them as she checked the IV bag. "It looks like you're almost done, so you shouldn't be here much longer."

"Will I throw up anymore while I'm here?" Chandler asked her.

"It's hard to say. Every patient reacts differently to their medication." Chandler nodded and laid his head back against the back of the chair.

Nurse Wendy walked out of the room again and the other four came back over to them. Chandler glanced at all of them, feeling a little embarrassed that they had witnessed what just happened.

"Are you feeling ok now?" Monica asked him.

"Yeah." he glanced at the others again, then stared out the open door and down the hallway as his eyes widened. "Oh my god."

"What is it?" Monica asked him. "Do you feel sick again?"

"No. That's not it."

"Then what is it?"

"Am I seeing things, or is that my mom coming down the hall?"

"What?" They all turned to look where he was and sure enough, they could see that Nora Bing was walking down the hall. She stopped at the nurses' station and spoke to them for a minute.

"I'll go get her." Monica rushed out of the room and caught up to her. They all watched as they hugged briefly and walked down the hall together back to Chandler's room.

"Chandler," Nora slowly entered the room and went to her son as she leaned down to hug him gently. "I just got Ross' message this morning. I immediately got on a plane and came out here. I called your father to see if he knew. He actually took my call. He told me that he talked to you. He also said that he was coming down to see you next week."

"Yeah. He is." Chandler told her. "What are you doing here? You're in the middle of a book tour. Or are you just trying to one-up dad?"

"Not at all, honey." she assured him as everyone else filed out of the room to give them a little bit of privacy. "You're more important than a book tour. And a silly tug-of-war with your dad concerning you. But I am under contract. So unfortunately, they only gave me today. I have to be back on a plane by tonight."

"It's ok. You came. That's all that matters." he managed a smile for her sake.

"So how's it going so far?" she sat beside him and glanced at the IVs leading to under Chandler's shirt.

"Well, you just missed me throwing up." he mumbled.

"You'll have more of that, I hear."

"That's what I have to look forward to." he sighed.

"You'll be fine. You'll get through it. You're strong. You'd have to be to get through the childhood that you had." the machine next to Chandler started beeping indicating that the medicine bags were empty.

Monica came back in with the nurse and took Chandler's hand as Nora stepped out of the way. Wendy disconnected the IVs from the central line and clamped them off again as Chandler started to stand, but got light-headed.

"Ok. First round is finished." the nurse helped him steady himself. "We'll get you settled into a recovery room to monitor you for any possible side effects."

"Sure." he slowly started to follow her out of the room with Monica holding firmly onto him to help him walk steadily. The nurse led them down the hall to a private room and Chandler slowly climbed onto the cot and lay back.

"How much longer will I have to stay?" Chandler asked.

"We'd like you to stay for at least a half hour before we release you." Nurse Wendy told them as Nora came in with their friends. "Most patients do experience bed spins, so there is a trash can right below the bed for you to use just in case."

"Thank you." Monica told her as she left and she leaned down to kiss Chandler's forehead. "Just a half hour more, sweetie. Then we can go home."

"Good." Chandler mumbled drowsily. "I'm sick of this place already."

An hour later, Chandler was able to go home. Monica suggested that they take Nora to the airport so she could catch her flight, and Chandler reluctantly agreed. He watched his mother scurry into the airport as he watched from the curb. Monica glanced over at Chandler as she pulled away from the curb and saw his blank expression.

"Are you ok?" she asked him.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" he mumbled.

"Well, your mom just left."

"She always leaves."

"But this time it's different."

"It's fine, Mon." he snapped at her, then felt horrible. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"It's ok." she assured him. "I shouldn't have brought it up when I know you're not ready to talk about it."

"It's ok." he told her.

"But you know you'll have to talk to them about this eventually." she told him. "Sooner rather than later."

"I know." they reached the parking garage and Chandler slowly climbed out of the car and they started to walk into the building.

Chandler started to feel light-headed as they reached the top of the stairs so Monica waited for him to catch up to her and helped him walk the rest of the way towards their apartment.

"I think I'm going to lie down." Chandler told her once they had walked inside. "It's kind of been a long day."

"Ok. You go ahead." she told him. "I'll just be cleaning."

"Thank you." Chandler made his way to their bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

* * *

Monica started cleaning and disinfecting the entire living room area as she thought about that day. It was so hard to watch Chandler go through everything that he had so far already. She could tell that he was getting frustrated having to depend on everyone else. He had spent his entire life from the point of his parent's divorce taking care of himself. He always felt uncomfortable asking people for help.

Monica finished with the disinfecting and went to check on Chandler. She peeked into the bedroom and saw him fast asleep. Today really took its toll on him; and it was only the beginning. After the tension she experienced from him after they dropped his mom off at the airport, she knew that she had to try to get him to talk about what he was dealing with before he exploded and she and all their friends were the casualties.

Monica was starting to make some dinner when everyone else showed up at the apartment. They scanned the apartment hoping to see Chandler resting in the living room.

"Hey. Where's Chandler?" Ross asked his sister.

"After we got back from dropping his mom off at the airport, he was exhausted. So I told him to take a nap for a little bit."

"How'd the drop-off go?" Phoebe asked.

"It was all right." Monica sighed. "He didn't say anything about it, but I know it hurts him that his mom doesn't want to stick around for this."

"Maybe they should talk." Phoebe said.

"That's kind of a sensitive issue with him." Ross told her. "They didn't really talk when she was out here for the wedding. The last time they really talked was when she came out the last time to promote her book."

"You mean, when you kissed her?" Joey looked at him.

"We agreed not to mention that again." Ross gave him a look.

"Has Chandler gotten sick anymore?" Rachel spoke up.

"No." Monica told her. "The doctor said he might have a loss of appetite, but to encourage him to eat something."

"Do you mind if we stay for supper?" Joey asked.

"Not at all." Monica smiled at them. "The truth is that I'd love some company right now."

"We'd be happy to stay." they all sat in the living room and tried to find something to watch on TV as Monica finished making supper.

An hour later, they all sat at the table to eat what Monica had prepared as she went to check on Chandler. She slowly walked in and saw him still sound asleep as she slowly approached the bed.

"Honey," she sat beside him on the bed and softly shook him. "You need to wake up."

"What's going on?" he turned over as his eyes slowly opened. "Mon? How long have I been sleeping?"

"A little more than an hour." she felt his forehead briefly. "Are you still tired?"

"Yeah." he tried to stifle a yawn.

"Tell you what. I'll give you another hour, and then come wake you again. Because you need to eat something."

"Sounds good to me." he turned back over and fell back asleep as Monica pulled the covers up over him more before she left the room again.

"Is he coming out to eat?" Rachel asked Monica as she rejoined them.

"Not yet. He's still tired. I told him I'd give him another hour." she sighed as she sat down in between Rachel and Phoebe.

"It sure did take a lot out of him today." Phoebe said.

"And it was only the beginning. He has another treatment Thursday." Monica sighed. "I can't keep asking off work. We need the money. Would one of you be able to take him to the hospital for his treatment?"

"I'll do it." Rachel told her. "I'll take care of him. He'll be in good hands."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem."

"Is Chandler still going to work?" Ross asked.

"He said he's going tomorrow." Monica informed them. "But he's not telling anyone. He doesn't want them to feel sorry for him."

"Is it a good idea for him to exert himself like that?"

"The doctor said he can still work. He just has to cut back. Besides, Chandler doesn't want to feel like an invalid."

They all resumed eating their dinner as Monica kept glancing at their bedroom door hoping to see Chandler coming out to join them. Conversations were very small and quiet without Chandler there to crack some kind of joke during the uncomfortable silences.

A little while later, everyone was helping Monica clean up after they finished eating when they heard a noise. They all turned and saw the bedroom door open and Chandler slowly came out to them.

"Hey. He's awake." Rachel smiled at him. "Did you get enough rest, Sleepyhead?"

"Are you feeling any better, honey?" Monica went to him. "Do you feel up to eating anything? You need to keep your strength up."

"Hold that thought." Chandler's eyes widened and he bolted to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"Should one of us go help him?" Joey asked as they all looked at each other.

"I'll give him a few minutes of privacy before I go and try to help him." Monica finished packing up the leftovers as Phoebe found a movie on TV for them all to watch.

Chandler felt so horrible; he'd never felt this horrible before in his entire life. And he knew that it would just get worse as time and the treatments went on. He felt like he'd been throwing up forever when there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. It slowly opened and Monica silently came in and went right over to him.

"How are you doing?" she knelt beside him and slowly rubbed his back.

"I think my liver is next." he moaned as he leaned back over the toilet and heaved again.

"It'll be ok." she rubbed his back and he slowly sat up. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible." he sighed as Monica wet a wash cloth and dabbed at his forehead. "I'm glad you're here for me in this. You know that, right?"

"I do, but it's still good to hear." she smiled at him as he slowly attempted to stand, but instead rested on the edge of the tub.

"I just needed to let you know that just in case in the coming months that I'm unbearable to handle."

"I've already prepared myself for your mood swings." she smiled at him as she filled the glass at the sink and he stood up so he could rinse his mouth out.

"I think I'm ready to face everyone again." he told her.

"Are you ready to try eating yet?"

"Maybe something small. I don't think I can handle too much right now."

"How about some clear broth?"

"I guess I can try some of that." he started to follow her out of the bathroom and saw everyone still there watching the movie. They all looked back at them as Chandler went to the kitchen closely following behind Monica.

"How are you doing, Chandler?" Phoebe asked him.

"I just threw up half my stomach." he sighed as he sat at the table and Monica started to heat up some broth for him.

Chandler slowly started to eat some of what was put before him as he felt more than one pair of eyes on him. He sighed as he put the spoon down and looked at the four pairs of eyes trying not to stare at him from the living room.

"You know if you wanted to make me uncomfortable, there are more subtle ways." he glared at them all as Monica turned around from cleaning off the stove to glare at them all.

"I think you guys should go now." she told them.

"Mon-" Ross started.

"Out." she demanded and they all stood up and walked out of their apartment after trying to talk to Chandler with no avail.

"It's starting already." Chandler mumbled as Monica sat down across from him and took his hand and squeezed it.

"They just don't know how to act." she told him. "None of us have ever had to deal with something like this."

"I know, it's just-"

"You want everything to go back to normal, right? You want them to act normal; at least around you."

"Yeah." he said softly.

"I want that too, but everything isn't normal. It won't be for a long time. We all need to accept that, ok?"

"I'll try."

"I'll take it." she smiled at him as he resumed trying to eat the rest of the broth.

**AN: **So what'd you all think of this chapter? PLZ R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Another update for you guys. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 4**

Monica was at the restaurant one afternoon in the middle of the lunch rush. Chandler had been on chemo for a little over a week now. He had his good and bad days, and so far he'd been able to keep up with everything at work. His dad would be coming into town to visit them soon, and Chandler hoped he had enough energy for when he wanted them to go see the sights of New York.

"Monica, phone call for you." one of the waiters came in with the phone. "I think it's your husband."

"Chandler," Monica took the phone. "Are you ok?"

"My boss is sending me home. I need someone to come help me get home."

"I can't get off work right now. It's the lunch rush. But I'll call one of the others and see if they can." she heard the exhaustion in his voice. "So what's the matter?"

"I'm just very run-down. I have like no energy at all right now."

"Have you gotten sick?"

"No. I'm just really nauseous and light-headed."

"I'll call someone. Just try to feel better, ok?"

"Yeah. Ok." they both hung up and Monica dialed Joey's apartment and was relieved when he answered.

"Joey, it's Monica. Can you go get Chandler from his work? His boss sent him home."

"Sure. Rachel's here. She can come with me."

"Thank you. I'll be home around eight or nine."

"Is there any special instructions I should know about?"

"He said he was nauseous. There should be some ginger ale in the refrigerator for him. He'll probably just pass out in front of the TV anyway."

"Got it." Joey hung up with Monica and explained to Rachel what was going on as they both rushed out of the apartment and outside to grab a cab.

Chandler was sitting in the lobby of his office building waiting for someone to come and take him home. The cab that Joey and Rachel were in pulled up to the curb and Rachel rushed inside as Joey stayed by the cab. Rachel found Chandler sitting on a bench near the receptionist's desk with his head resting back on the wall behind him.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist looked up at her.

"I'm here for him." Rachel gestured to Chandler as she approached him. "Chandler? Are you awake?"

"Hey, Rach." his eyes slowly opened and spotted her. "Monica recruited you, then?"

"Joey's waiting in the cab for us. Do you think you need any help?"

"I think I can make it." he slowly stood up and stumbled a little bit. "Or maybe not."

Rachel took Chandler's arm to steady him and helped lead him out of the building and towards the awaiting cab. Joey saw them approaching and helped get Chandler in the back of the cab. He slid in beside him and Rachel got in the front as they pulled away from the curb. They reached their apartment building a little bit later and Chandler slowly climbed the flight of stairs with some help from Joey this time. They walked into his apartment and he sat on the couch as Rachel and Joey followed him in.

"Would you like to watch a movie?" Joey asked as he sat in the chair near the couch.

"Maybe he should try to sleep." Rachel told them. "You look kind of tired, Chandler."

"I'm always tired now." Chandler looked at them. "I don't want to be alone right now. I'd actually like to watch a movie with you guys. If you can stay, that is."

"Of course we'll stay." Rachel sat by him on the couch as Joey found a movie on TV.

"Hey, you guys." Chandler spoke up after awhile. "I never apologized for what happened at dinner last week."

"Chan, you don't have to." Joey started.

"If anyone needs to apologize it's us." Rachel added. "We were all still getting used to everything, and none of us handled it well that night."

"Well, I'm still sorry that I just snapped at you." Chandler mumbled. "I've been doing that a lot lately."

"That's totally understandable." Joey told him. "I mean, your whole life changed in an instant. If it was me, I know I wouldn't be able to handle it as well as you are."

"You think I'm handling this well?" he looked over at him incredulously.

"Better than I would."

Monica rushed into the apartment after nine and saw the three of them watching TV as the credits of a movie rolled on the screen. Rachel and Joey looked back at her as she placed some bags from the drug store on the table.

"How's he doing?" Monica asked them as she peered over the couch and saw Chandler half-asleep.

"He's just been sleeping off and on." Rachel told her. "We would've left, but he wanted us to stay. He didn't want to be alone."

"Honey," Monica shook Chandler gently.

"Hey." he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"I called the doctor and he called in a prescription for some anti-nausea pills. I just picked them up."

"Maybe I should take one now." he slowly sat up as Joey and Rachel got up.

"You're not supposed to take them on an empty stomach. So I'll make you a sandwich."

"We'll go." Rachel and Joey started to walk out.

"We'll stop by to see you tomorrow." Joey said.

"I'm taking you to your treatment tomorrow, so I'll see you in the morning." Rachel added and he nodded.

"Thanks for staying with me." he called after them as Monica brought a plate over to him with a sandwich on it, a glass of water, and a small pill.

"So I take it that your work knows now." Monica sat beside him as he started to eat the sandwich.

"My boss does. I'm not sure about everyone else." he sighed.

"It'll be ok." she assured him.

"I'm not worried about that right now." Chandler finished the sandwich and swallowed the pill, hoping it would kick in soon. "I just need to have some energy for tomorrow when I have my next treatment. And for when my dad comes into town."

"He'll understand." She leaned against him. "He's coming to see you. To spend time with you. He won't care about all of this."

"I know. I'm kind of getting really tired. Do you mind if I just go to bed?"

"You go ahead." Monica helped him up. "I'll clean everything up."

"Do you want me to help you?"

"No. Go ahead. I know you're really tired. I'll be there in a little bit."

"Ok." he made his way into their bedroom and slowly climbed into bed.

Monica walked into the bedroom five minutes later and smiled at Chandler. He was half-asleep and stretched out on his side of the bed; he had obviously tried to wait for her, but was too exhausted to stay awake for that much longer. She slowly climbed in beside him and pulled the covers up over them as he shifted next to her.

"Love you, Mon." Chandler mumbled as his eyes opened briefly and looked over at her.

"I love you, too." she smiled as she snuggled into him as they both fell asleep.

* * *

Chandler sat at the kitchen table slowly trying to eat some breakfast before Rachel came to collect him for his treatment. Monica came out to him after she finished getting ready for work.

"Hey, honey." she came up to him and hugged him from behind.

"Morning," he smiled up at her as she kissed him on his forehead.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked him.

"All right, I think. It seems like I just can't get enough sleep."

"You'll be fine." she assured him. "Are you almost done eating? Rachel should be here in a few minutes."

"I'm hoping I can keep this down." he stirred the now-soggy cereal in the bowl before him. "Everything makes me sick right now."

"Chandler?" there was a light knock at the door and Rachel slowly came in. "Are you ready to go?"

"Almost. Just let me use the bathroom real quick." he got up and rushed to the bathroom.

"Is he-getting sick in there?" Rachel watched as Monica took Chandler's breakfast to the sink and cleaned up the table.

"Sounds like it." she could hear the distinct sounds of Chandler retching. "I'll give him some privacy this time."

"Ok. I'm ready." Chandler came out and grabbed his jacket.

"I'll see you when I get home." Monica kissed him good-bye. "Good luck today."

"He's in good hands." Rachel assured her. "We should get going, Chandler."

Chandler nodded as he followed Rachel out of the building and they grabbed a cab. The ride to the hospital was spent in total silence; Chandler didn't even try to crack some kind of joke to ease their tension. They arrived at the hospital and Chandler went to check in at the nurse's station on the Oncology floor.

Rachel came in to the room where Chandler was as the nurse was getting him set up for his treatment. She sat in the chair beside him as the nurse got the IVs going.

"Ok. You're all set up." Wendy told him. "I'll be back in a while to check on you."

"Thanks." Chandler mumbled as he laid his head back against the back of the chair.

"So this is what you do the whole time you're here?" Rachel looked at him.

"Pretty much." he mumbled. "I wait for the bags to empty as I try not to hurl."

"You can't do anything while you're here?"

"It hurts to move too much." Chandler told her, indicating to his central line. "Monica usually finds some magazines to keep us busy."

"I have some magazines." Rachel rooted around in her bag. "Oh. It looks like they're all fashion magazines."

"No, thank you."

"Wait. Here's an issue of People." Rachel handed it to him. "You're always good at the crosswords puzzle in the back."

"Thanks," Chandler started flipping through it as they settled in for the next few hours.

"I'm going to take a bathroom break." Rachel told him after they'd been sitting there for awhile. "I'll be right back."

"You can take your time if you want." Chandler mumbled. "Just leave that basin within my reach just in case."

"Sure." she placed it next to him as she walked down the hall to use the bathroom.

Rachel walked out of the bathroom and was starting back to Chandler's room when she spotted Phoebe coming down the hall.

"Hey. Did you come to see Chandler?" Rachel met her halfway.

"Yeah. My last massage client canceled. How's Chandler doing?"

"I think he's almost done. I just needed a bathroom break." they headed back to the room and walked in to find Chandler bent over the basin emptying his stomach.

"Chandler," Rachel rushed to him. "Are you ok?"

"I think so." Chandler looked up at them as he finished.

"I'll take care of that." Phoebe took it from him and disappeared into the bathroom as Rachel poured a paper cup with water for Chandler.

"Thank you." Chandler took a small drink as Phoebe came out of the bathroom. "No offense to either of you, but this is a little embarrassing for me."

"What is?"

"You guys cleaning up after me." he sighed. "I feel bad enough when it's Monica doing all this."

"This is what friends are supposed to do." Phoebe told him. "We're here to help you through all of this."

"I know." he closed his eyes as he got another feeling of seeing his breakfast in reverse.

"Are you ok?" Rachel saw the look. "Do you think you'll need the basin again?"

"Maybe." he mumbled as Phoebe placed it on his lap before him. "I hate feeling like this all the time. I have almost no appetite, and when I do everything just comes back up."

"This will pass eventually." Rachel told him. "Once you don't have to do these treatments so much."

"That's what Monica keeps saying."

"She's right." Rachel started to rub his back slowly as he started moaning. "You'll get through this. Just don't give up, ok?"

"I'm not planning on it." Chandler informed them as he closed his eyes to stop from feeling like he was going to throw up his entire stomach.

* * *

Chandler sat in the booth at the Chinese restaurant after his treatment ended. He was reluctant to come here when Phoebe suggested it, but they were adamant that he come with them. He sat in the corner of the booth as he tried not to breathe in all the mixtures of different smells wafting past their table.

"Why are we here?" Chandler asked them again.

"Because we all need to eat; you especially." Rachel told him.

"This place is making me nauseous."

"Just try not to focus on the smells." she told him as their food arrived.

Chandler scooted to the far corner of the booth far away from all the food as Phoebe divided it all up. Rachel pushed a small bowl of plain white rice towards Chandler and he slowly pulled it towards him.

"Try this." she told him. "No sauce, no seasoning, just white rice."

"So far, so good." Chandler said after a few bites.

"See? Now you can actually eat a food that will stay down."

* * *

Monica picked up the phone from the cradle and dialed Chandler's cell number. After getting no answer, she dialed Rachel's number. She had been doing this for over an hour; ever since she had arrived home to find the apartment empty. Chandler should've been home from his treatment long before then. After awhile, both Joey and Ross showed up and sat in the living room watching a game on TV as she started pacing.

"Monica, calm down." Ross told her.

"Yeah. He is with Rachel." Joey added. "She may have taken him shopping with her or something."

"He shouldn't be out that long. He gets tired so much easier now."

"Maybe today is one of his good days." Ross told her.

"I just wish he would answer his phone." Monica started to dial again.

"Calm down. We're here." the door opened and Phoebe came in followed by Rachel and Chandler. "We made a couple of pit stops after he got done with his treatment."

"Phoebe? You went with them?"

"I showed up when he was about halfway through." she told Monica as she greeted Chandler with a tight hug and he fell onto the couch beside Joey. "Then we made a couple stops to see if we could get him to eat something."

"And?"

"I had some rice." Chandler mumbled from his spot on the couch.

"Plain rice, no sauce of any kind, just bland rice." Rachel told them.

"And you were able to keep it down?" Monica sat beside Chandler.

"So far." he looked at her.

"So we stopped at the store afterwards and picked up some boxed rice for him." Rachel placed the bag on the kitchen table. "We also picked up some packages of Ramen noodles. We thought maybe you could prepare it without the seasoning packet."

"That's a great idea." Monica told them. "But why didn't you answer my calls?"

"I forgot my phone." Rachel told her.

"I turned mine off during the treatment." Chandler told her as he took his out of his pocket and saw all the missed calls. "I guess I forgot to turn it back on."

"It's ok." Monica smiled at Chandler. "So are you feeling all right?"

"Just tired right now." he said softly.

"We can go." Ross said as he and Joey got up. "We can come back later to visit."

"Yeah." Joey added. "Just get some rest, man."

"Bye." Chandler said softly as the four of them filed out of the apartment.

"You just rest now." Monica told him.

"Sit here with me?" he looked at her. "Maybe we can find one of those sappy movies you like on TV."

"Sure." she took the remote. "And those movies are not sappy."

"Whatever you say."

"Oh. Sleepless In Seattle. I haven't seen this in so long." Monica changed the channel and settled in beside Chandler.

Chandler slowly opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep when he saw the credits roll on the TV screen. He realized his head was resting on Monica's lap and he was covered with a soft blanket. He looked up and saw Monica smiling down at him.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked him as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I'm not sure." he sat upright as she started to stand.

"Are you hungry? I can make you some of that Ramen that Phoebe got you today."

"Sure." he watched her go into the kitchen and fill a pot with water and placed it on the stove. "So how was work today?"

"There was a big lunch rush today." she told him as she added a package of Ramen noodles to the boiling water. "Do you think you'll return to work?"

"I don't know." he sighed. "I know everyone will just stare at me in sympathy, but I also know that we really need the money right now."

"Hey. Don't worry about that right now." Monica told him. "If you're not comfortable going back to work, then we'll work it out somehow."

"You're sure?"

"If we have to, my parents said that they'd help us out."

"I'm not comfortable asking for hand outs." Chandler mumbled as he sat at the table.

"I know. Neither am I." She placed the bowl of Ramen in front of him. "But if it comes to that, we'll both have to get over it."

"I know." Chandler slowly started eating.

"So I wanted to suggest something, and I hope you don't get mad at me for doing so."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we should consider going to see a therapist."

"Mon-"

"Let me finish. A lot has happened in the past few weeks. Our whole world changed in an instant, and I know that you're holding a lot in. I think it would help us."

"Maybe."

"Just think about it. You can go by yourself or I can go with you."

"Ok. I'll think about it." Chandler finished his dinner and slowly took his bowl to the sink. "Just not right now."

"Fair enough." she watched him go back to the living room and start flipping through the TV channels.

Monica started to clean up the kitchen as she watched Chandler. She knew him well enough that she could tell that he was mulling her suggestion over. She really thought that it would be beneficial and he wouldn't be so short with everyone. She saw him drift off to sleep again and went to him.

"Honey," she started to help him up. "Why don't you go to bed and sleep?"

"Ok." he said softly as he allowed her to lead him into their bedroom and he collapsed onto the bed as she covered him.

"I'll be back after I finish cleaning everything up."

"All right." he mumbled as he turned over onto his side and fell to sleep.

Monica walked out and finished cleaning up the kitchen and disinfecting it again. She walked back in and saw Chandler awake and looking at her.

"I was waiting for you." he said softly.

"I wasn't that long." she climbed in beside him. "How are you feeling?"

"A little nauseous." he moaned. "I don't think this is going to be a very good night."

"I'm here with you." she assured him as she turned out the light and they both attempted to get some sleep.

* * *

Monica turned over in bed as she felt the bed shift yet again. She glanced over and saw Chandler opening the door and rushing back into the bathroom. It was the fourth or fifth time he had gotten up in the middle of the night. She could hear him retching again and started to climb out of bed. She saw the bathroom door open and Chandler went towards the living room. She silently walked out of the bedroom and saw him lying across the couch.

"Chandler?" she approached him and he turned to look at her.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you again." he said softly.

"Don't worry about that." she sat on the coffee table before him. "I told you I'm here for everything. And that includes all the late-night wake ups."

"I got it." he slowly sat up. "I'm just waiting to see if anything else wants to come up."

"I know you're probably going to get mad at me, but I need to take your temperature."

"All right." he laid his head back as she went into the bathroom and came back out with a thermometer.

"Here we go." Chandler opened his mouth and she stuck it in his mouth and she counted down the minutes. "All right. Let's see here."

"Mon," Chandler bolted up. "You should probably get out of the way now."

Monica watched as he bolted to the bathroom again and she could hear him retching; more intensely than he has before. After a long while of not hearing any noise, she went in to check on him. She found him still hung over the toilet bowl and not moving.

"Chandler?"

"Mon," he whispered. "I think you should call Dr. Brown."

"What's going on?" she rushed to him.

"I don't know. I just-I can't stop shaking. And I feel so dizzy. Something's just not right."

"Ok. I'll be right back." she went out to grab the phone as the door slowly opened.

"Monica," Joey jumped back when he spotted her there. "Hey. I-"

"It's all right, Joey. Have at the left overs." Monica gestured to the refrigerator as she dialed a number. "Dr. Brown? It's Monica Bing."

Joey listened to Monica's side of the conversation as he went in search of Chandler. He went into the bathroom and saw his head hung over the toilet bowl as he attempted to stand up. He went to him and tried to help him as Monica came back in.

"Joey, I think I'm going to need your help. Dr. Brown wants me to get him to the ER."

"I'm not leaving you guys." he told her as they got Chandler up and together they practically dragged him out of the building.

* * *

Chandler slowly opened his eyes and saw himself in a stark white room. He sighed as he realized that he was in a hospital room. He looked around and saw Joey stretched across the small couch, but there was no sign of Monica. Joey started to stir and slowly sat up as he saw Chandler looking at him.

"Hey. You're awake." he smiled at him as he went to the bed. "You scared us, buddy."

"What happened?"

"The doctor said you became extremely dehydrated."

"Where's Monica?"

"I'm right here." the door opened and she came into them. "I just went to see when you could get out of here since Dr. Brown says you're doing better."

"When can I get out of here then?"

"Soon. Dr. Brown wants to examine you first before he'll release you."

"All right." Chandler sat up more as Monica sat beside him on the bed and he wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

Ross showed up at Monica and Chandler's and found Rachel and Phoebe sitting in the kitchen eating some breakfast. Monica and Chandler were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey." he greeted them. "Where is everyone?"

"We don't know." Phoebe told him. "We got here an hour ago and they were both gone."

"Joey's gone, too." Rachel said. "We tried calling their phones, but they didn't answer."

Ross joined them at the table as they all silently worried about what was going on with Chandler. The door suddenly opened and they all looked up as Monica and Chandler came in followed closely by Joey.

"Where've you guys been?" Ross asked as they all stood up to greet them.

"We were worried when we got here and you guys were gone." Rachel added.

"We had to take Chandler to the hospital." Monica informed them as Chandler went to sit on the couch with Joey.

"What happened?" Phoebe asked.

"He got really sick last night. He kept going in to the bathroom to throw up. Finally, he told me to call his doctor."

"And you woke up Joey to come help you?"

"Joey was already over here searching our refrigerator for food. He helped me get Chandler to the ER and stayed with us the whole night."

"So what was wrong with him?" Ross asked.

"He got very dehydrated. He's fine now, but we need to push the fluids on him."

"Just like we have to push him to eat?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. He seemed to be able to eat the Ramen noodles you guys got him. He told me to pick up some more on the way home just now."

Chandler was watching an old basketball game on TV as Joey sat next to him. He sighed as the events of last night came back to him. It was a little embarrassing to have Joey have to help him walk out of the apartment. There were a lot of things that were starting to get embarrassing for him now these days. He was trying to not let it bother him so much, but he wasn't succeeding. Maybe he should look into seeing a therapist like Monica suggested; it might help him deal with everything.

"Here you go, honey." Monica brought a bottle of Gatorade over to him. "The doctor said to keep you hydrated."

"Thanks." he twisted the top off it and took a big gulp.

The others watched the exchange with concern. Chandler was becoming more and more withdrawn; except with Monica. They were all frightened that they were going to lose Chandler. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. And that was the one thing they were most afraid of.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? PLZ R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **Here's another chapter for you guys. And I just wanted to let you know that I am working on my other Friends stories too. It's just a little hard to put my ideas to paper(or computer). So PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 5**

Monica reached the apartment building after finishing a late shift that day. Chandler didn't have a treatment that day, so he said he was going to try to go into work for a couple hours. He had also made plans to hang out with Joey and Ross afterwards. She really hoped that it was going well. Lately, her brother had made it a point to ask Chandler about how he was handling everything that had gone on. Monica knew that he meant well, but she was getting frustrated along with Chandler.

She had just reached the top of the stairs as she heard yelling coming from down the hall. She heard Chandler's raised voice, and a second later a loud crash. She rushed into the apartment as she saw the bedroom door slam shut. She saw Joey glaring across the room at Ross and a pile of broken pieces of glass all over the floor.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Ask him." Joey gestured to Ross. "He's the reason why Chandler snapped."

"Ross?" she looked at him.

"I-I was just talking to him." Ross started. "And he got upset for some reason."

"That's not the entire truth." Joey told her. "He kept pushing him to talk. I don't blame him for snapping."

"No offense to you Joey, but both of you get out. I need to talk to Chandler."

"Of course." Joey walked to the door as Ross turned to her.

"Mon, I'm really sorry." Ross told her.

"I know you are, but you need to back off. Now get out." They both left, closing the door behind them and Monica sighed.

Monica got out the broom and dust pan as she started cleaning up all the broken glass from one of the vases from the side table. She made sure she got every last piece and disposed of it before she started into the bedroom. She slowly opened the door and peered into the room. She spotted Chandler lying on his side on the bed with his back facing her. She slowly sat at the end of the bed and started to shake him.

"Chandler, honey?" There was no answer so she moved closer to him. "I know you're not asleep, so you can stop pretending."

"I'm not pretending." He spoke softly. "But I am feeling a lot of shame right now."

"Shame about what?" she got up and sat directly in front of him.

"About what I did." He looked at her. "I'm sorry I broke your vase."

"I'm not worried about that right now." She assured him. "And truthfully, I don't really blame you for getting angry at Ross. If you hadn't thrown something, I probably would've eventually."

"Mon, I'm scared." He revealed to her as he rolled onto his back.

"About having Leukemia?"

"That, too. But I'm also scared of how I'm feeling. I mean, earlier-if the vase wasn't within reach, I probably would've hit Ross. And that scared me."

"Honey," she lay down beside him and held him. "Are you ready to talk about considering going to see a therapist?"

"Yeah." He said softly. "I think I should talk to someone. Will you go with me?"

"You know I will." She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. "I'll call around and find one tomorrow. For now, let's just stay like this."

"Sounds good." He said softly as they stayed like that for several hours as they both slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Phoebe and Rachel were with Joey and Ross in the coffee shop. After finding the door to Monica and Chandler's locked, they realized that the couple were avoiding them all. They all turned on Ross after Joey explained what had gone on the night before.

"No wonder Monica didn't call me last night." Phoebe said. "She usually calls me right before she goes to bed so that we can catch up with each other."

"I cannot believe that you did that." Rachel glared at Ross. "Could you not tell that he was stressed? That he was ready to explode?"

"I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say it?" Ross mumbled.

"Until we believe it." Joey told him. "All he wanted was to hang out with us yesterday. Like old times. Where he didn't have to think about treatments, medications, and getting violently sick. But you had to keep pushing him, didn't you?"

"Hey. Where are they going?" Phoebe said suddenly.

They all looked where she was looking out the window and saw Monica and Chandler just standing on the sidewalk with their backs towards the coffee shop. Monica was saying something to Chandler, which made him nod hesitantly. A cab pulled up in front of them and they climbed into the back and it pulled away again.

"Did he have a treatment today?" Rachel asked.

"No. His next treatment isn't until tomorrow." Joey told them. "I'm supposed to take him."

"Do you think they got a call from the doctor about any of his test results?" Ross asked them.

"Maybe." They all sighed as they thought about what it was like before everything started.

* * *

Monica sat in one of the chairs in the waiting room of the therapist's office as she absently flipped through a magazine. She had awoken early that morning and called Dr. Brown to see if he could help her. He recommended a therapist that he referred to all of his Oncology patients to help them come to terms with their new circumstances. When Chandler had awoken, she cautiously approached him about it, and was surprised when he readily agreed.

She had called up the therapist and he said he could fit them in later that morning. They didn't inform any of their friends about where they were going, and took a cab to his office. The first half hour of the appointment would be with just Chandler and the therapist so that he had a chance to vent about everything by himself without anyone interrupting him. The last half hour Monica would join them and the doctor would relay to her what Chandler felt comfortable with sharing with her.

"Mrs. Bing, you can come on back now." The receptionist approached her and she followed her back to one of the rooms.

When she walked in, she saw Chandler sitting on the long couch facing the doctor who was sitting in a straight-backed chair. Chandler looked spent; like it had taken a lot out of him. She sat beside Chandler and took his hand as he glanced at her and smiled weakly.

"So Chandler has revealed quite a bit already." Dr. Thane informed Monica. "I think it would be very beneficial for him to make weekly visits here if that's what you both want to do."

"Ok." Monica said slowly.

"Chandler, why don't you go ahead?" Dr. Thane encouraged him.

"I'm just sick and tired of everything already." Chandler started. "I'm not just talking about the treatments and the effects I've been feeling. I'm talking about how everyone's been treating me since I was diagnosed."

"What do you mean?" Monica squeezed the hand she was holding.

"The looks of sympathy, the pitying looks," he turned away from her. "Added to that is the fact that I can't walk into a room without you trying to feel my forehead to see if I have a fever. And the first thing out of everyone's mouth when they greet me is them asking me how I'm feeling."

"Ok." Monica sighed. "I'm sorry, honey. I didn't realize that I was doing it so often or how much it bothered you."

"It's not you as much as the others. I expect it from you."

"Well if it's bothering you this much, I think you should tell them."

* * *

Monica and Chandler got back to the apartment after Chandler's grueling session. Before they left, Chandler had made a commitment to attend weekly sessions with Dr. Thane.

Chandler came out of the bedroom after taking a short nap and found Monica starting to make supper. She looked up at him and smiled.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure." He sighed. "I have too many thoughts running around in my head right now."

"Maybe you need to talk to the others."

"Yeah." He sighed. "Do you know if they're across the hall?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen or heard from them all day. They probably wanted to give us some privacy."

"I'll go see if they're across the hall." Chandler walked out of the apartment.

Chandler started to knock on his old apartment door when he heard some familiar voices coming from the stairs. He turned to see the four of them walking towards him. They all stopped when they spotted him just standing there; no one knew what to say to him.

"Hey," Chandler greeted them softly. "I was just coming to talk to you."

"Listen man, about last night-" Ross started.

"It's ok, Ross." Chandler told him.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm sorry I got you so upset that you threw a glass vase at me."

"Truthfully, if that vase wasn't there I probably would've punched you."

"I would've deserved it."

"Are you ok now, Chandler?" Phoebe asked him.

"Can I talk to all of you?" he gestured to Joey and Rachel's apartment.

"Sure." They all walked into the apartment and took seats in the living room; Chandler in the leather recliner with the other four perched on the couch.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry if I've been coming off moody or irritable recently." He told them. "But every one of you is frustrating me beyond belief."

"How are we frustrating you exactly?" Ross asked.

"Ever since I was diagnosed, whenever you guys come visit us the first thing out of your mouth is how I'm feeling."

"We do?"

"It used to be 'Chandler, want to go to the coffee house?' or 'Chandler, we should go to the Knicks game.' Now it's 'Chandler, how are you feeling?' and 'Chandler, are you doing ok?' It's really frustrating."

"We are so sorry." Rachel told him. "We had no idea. At least I didn't."

"It's like you guys changed the moment you found out that I had Leukemia. We used to just hang out with no drama. Now whenever you guys are around, all I get are sympathetic looks. Like you're already planning my funeral."

"Man, we are so sorry." Joey spoke up. "Looking back, I know that you're right. I'll try harder."

"Us, too." Phoebe promised. "We just want to know that you're all right. If you have to yell at us to express how you're feeling, you can."

"I'll work on expressing myself, but I'll try not to yell at you." Chandler told them.

"So is everything going ok with the treatments?" Ross asked him.

"They're going fine. Why do you ask?"

"We saw you and Monica get in a cab earlier today." Phoebe told him. "We thought that maybe you got some news about some test results or something."

"We didn't go to the hospital. Monica and I went to see a therapist. Dr. Brown recommended one that he refers all his patients to. We're going to go there weekly now."

"I think that'll be good for you." Rachel told him. "You need to express yourself in better ways that with jokes and sarcasm."

"I know. I'll try not to explode on you guys. That's not to say that it won't happen, but I am going to try."

"So we're ok, then?" Ross asked softly.

"Yeah. We're all ok." Chandler assured them.

"So do you want to hang out then?" Joey asked him.

"Actually, Monica's making some supper right now. Do you want to join us?"

"Sure." They all followed him across the hall as Monica was placing supper on the table.

"Hey." She greeted them all. "I figured you all would be here eventually."

"Is it ready?" Chandler asked her. "I actually have an appetite today."

"It's all ready." She smiled at him as they all sat down around the table and they started joking around like it was old times; before the diagnosis.

* * *

Monica's alarm clock went off early the next morning and she untangled herself from Chandler's arms as she slowly climbed out of bed.

"Mon?" she turned around when she heard him call to her and saw him rolling over as his eyes opened.

"Go back to sleep." She told him. "I'm just getting ready for work. I'll come back in before I leave."

"Ok." His eyes fluttered closed as she walked out of their bedroom and into the bathroom to start her shower.

Chandler had actually slept through the night; he had an all-around good night. His stomach was settled enough that he was able to keep what he ate down. Their friends stayed for a few hours after they all finished eating; they all had a great time just hanging out together as they found some cheesy movies on TV to watch. It was exactly like old times with them just hanging out and joking around.

Monica finished getting dressed and ready for work and went back into the bedroom. Chandler was sound asleep; she hated to wake him, but she knew he would be upset if she left without letting him know.

"Honey," she softly shook him and he slowly opened his eyes. "Hey. I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving now."

"Ok." He said softly.

"You have a few more hours before you have to leave for your treatment." She started to tell him. "Joey's taking you today."

"I remember." He mumbled sleepily.

"I'm leaving your phone right next to you. I'm going to call you in a couple hours just in case Joey's late. It's turned on high so you'll be able to hear it even if you're still sleeping."

"I got it, Mon." Chandler sighed. "You should go before you're late."

"All right. I'm going." She smiled as she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "I'll talk to you in a couple hours."

"Mmm hmm." Chandler turned over onto his stomach and fell back asleep.

Monica smiled as she started off the bed. She grabbed her purse off the dresser and started out of the room.

"Love you." She heard a muffled voice call out to her just before she shut the bedroom door behind her.

"Love you, too." She smiled as she walked out of the apartment.

* * *

Chandler awoke a few hours later, dreading the day he had to look forward to. He had just walked out of the bathroom when he heard his cell phone go off very loudly. He went to go answer it and smiled as he clicked it on.

"Hey, Mon. Right on time." He greeted her.

"How'd you sleep after I left?"

"Pretty good." He rubbed his eyes.

"Is Joey there yet?"

"Actually, he's just walking in." Chandler told her as the door opened and Joey came in.

"I'll let you go then. Just try to eat something before you go."

"I'm making myself some toast now." Chandler walked into the kitchen and put a slice of bread in the toaster.

"All right. I'll let you go. I'll see you later tonight."

"See you then. Love you." Chandler hung up his phone and turned to face Joey.

"Monica checking up on you?" Joey asked him.

"No. She was making sure I was awake in case you were late."

"Fair enough." Joey watched him eat the piece of toast dry and gulp down a small glass of orange juice.

"All right. I ate something like Monica told me to. We can go."

"Sure." Joey followed him out and they started down the stairs and outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

Joey sat next to Chandler as he went through his latest treatment. Chandler seemed to be asleep with his head laying back against the back of the chair and his eyes closed. Joey looked up from his magazine as he heard heavy breathing.

"Chan?" he saw him struggling. "Do you need-"

"Yeah." Chandler mumbled and Joey grabbed the basin and placed it in his friend's hands.

Chandler gagged as the contents of his stomach started spilling out. Joey scooted closer to him and helped him to hold the basin. When he thought Chandler was finished, he took the basin from him and handed him a cup of water.

"Thanks," Chandler mumbled as he handed the cup back to him.

"No problem, buddy." He assured him.

"I hate this." Chandler laid his head back once again.

"What do you hate?"

"This." Chandler gestured to all the tubes attached to him. "I don't like going through all this three times a week."

"Chan-"

"I'm not saying that I'm going to give up. I would never do that to any of you guys; Monica especially. I'm just tired of all this."

"I know." Joey patted his back. "We hate seeing you like this."

"As much as this is hard on me, it has to be a lot harder on Monica." Chandler turned to look at him. "I mean, I don't know how she does it all."

"Does what?"

"Stays so strong for me when I know that all she wants to do is break down. I mean she sanitizes the apartment at least three times a day, makes my meals because I'm too weak to do it myself, along with going to work."

"She just does what she needs to do. And for the record, you're not weak. To go through all this and still be able to get out of bed everyday just to do it all over again, you've got to be the strongest person I know."

"Thanks, man." Chandler smiled at him.

* * *

Joey helped Chandler climb the stairs up to the apartment. He was exhausted after his treatment was finally over. The nurse wanted to keep him a little longer, but Chandler just wanted to go home. Joey assured them that he would stay with him to make sure that he got some rest. Besides, Monica should be home by the time they got there.

"Here we go, buddy." Joey opened the door to Monica and Chandler's apartment and led him in. "Monica? Are you here? We're back."

"She's at the store." Ross told them as he stood in the kitchen and Phoebe swiveled the recliner around to greet them. "How'd it go today?"

"Great." Chandler mumbled as he made a beeline for the couch.

"Yes. We can see that." Phoebe got up to help Chandler lay down across the couch and covered him with the blanket from the back of the couch. "Can we get you anything?"

"When's Monica going to be back?"

"She should be here soon." Phoebe assured him. "She just needed to get a few things."

"Ok." Chandler drifted off to sleep as the other three watched him.

They all sat around the living room trying to keep an eye on Chandler as they watched some TV at the same time. They could see him shaking in his sleep and worried about how much more he would have to go through.

"Ok. I'm back." The door opened and Monica placed the grocery bags on the table as she spotted Joey with the other two. "How'd it go today?"

"It went all right. It just took a lot out of him." Joey gestured to the couch and she peered over the top and saw Chandler fast asleep.

"Hey. Do you guys mind-"

"Say no more." Ross told her as the three of them got up from their seats and left the apartment.

"Honey?" she walked around the couch and ran her hand up and down his arm and his eyes slowly opened.

"Monica?" he said softly.

"Hey." She smiled at him. "The treatment must've been rough today."

"Just a little." He turned over. "How was work?"

"Not busy at all. I left early so I could get some shopping done." She noticed that he was shaking. "Are you cold?"

"Yeah." He slowly sat up as she walked into the second bedroom.

"Here we go." She came out with a fleece blanket and wrapped it around him. "Is that any better?"

"A little." He pulled it around him tighter.

"I'm going to make you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"I know, but you have to at least try."

"Fine." He sighed as he lay back down and she started to heat up some water on the stove.

* * *

"Come on, honey." Monica held another spoonful up to Chandler.

"No." he turned his head away. "Not hungry. Don't want it."

Chandler had fallen asleep while Monica was making his supper. She had gotten him awake, but he was too exhausted to move to the table. So she just brought a tray over to him and tried to get him to eat.

"You need to eat something." She said firmly. "You need to keep your strength up."

"It will make me even more sick." He mumbled from his upright position with his head lying back against the back of the couch.

"Ok, how about this? You take three more bites and finish your ginger ale, and I won't hassle you about this anymore tonight."

"Seriously?"

"Tomorrow is another story, though." She smiled at him.

"Fine." He slowly sat up and took the spoon from her as he took a bite.

"Thank you." She watched him eat and handed him the bottle of ginger ale.

"I'm going to the bedroom." Chandler slowly started to stand and Monica walked with him and helped him get into bed and covered him.

"Good night. I'll be back in soon."

"Ok." She walked out and cleaned up all the dishes and started disinfecting everything again.

She walked back into the bedroom and climbed in beside Chandler as he shifted his position and pulled her closer. She smiled and laid her head on his chest as she thought about how much Chandler had already gone through and how much more he had to go through. She gently kissed his forehead as she snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes.

"I love you, Chandler." She whispered softly.

"Love you, too." She heard him mumble sleepily and smiled as they both drifted off together.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? I'm going to try to work on my other stories right now. PLZ R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **Update for all of you! I've kind of been putting it off because I'm obsessed with my new Kindle Fire. But I am working on my other stories as well. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 6**

Monica was making breakfast one morning as Joey sat at the table waiting for it to get done. Chandler was still asleep; he'd had a tough time the night before. He had gotten up a few times in the middle of the night to get sick. She was worried that he wouldn't be able to make it in time one of those times, so she had placed a trash can by his side of the bed just in case.

"So when does Chandler's dad get in?" Joey asked.

"In a couple hours. Around lunchtime." Monica told him.

"Will he be staying here?"

"No. He's staying at a hotel. He didn't think Chandler would want him to see him so sick."

"He was probably right. Chandler doesn't even like it when we all see him sick."

"I know."

"Monica!" They both suddenly heard Chandler call out from the bedroom.

"I'll go see what that's about. You stay out here." Monica started towards their bedroom and slowly opened the door.

She silently walked in and saw Chandler sitting up in bed looking totally drained. The night before was a lot worse for him than she first thought. Then she spotted the bedspread; and his totally ashamed face.

"Honey, are you ok?" she went to him and placed her hand against his cheek.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I couldn't find the trash can. And I didn't think I could make it to the bathroom in time."

"It's ok, honey." She assured him. "I'm not mad."

"But I ruined the bedspread." he sighed. "You didn't sign up for this."

"I promised in sickness and in health." she held him. "You are so much more important to me than all these material things. They can be replaced; you can't."

"Is everything all right in there?" They heard Joey as there was a knock at the door.

"Are you ok now?" Monica looked at Chandler.

"Actually, no." he admitted. "I'm starting to feel sick again."

"We need your help, Joey." Monica called as she took the comforter off Chandler.

"What do you need?" The door opened and Joey slowly came in.

"Help Chandler to the bathroom. He's feeling sick again." She told him as Chandler attempted to stand up on his own.

"Not a problem. Come on, buddy." Joey helped him off the bed and walked him out and to the bathroom.

Monica started to strip the covers off the bed and made a pile on the floor. She started to sanitize when she heard the door open. She knew that it was everyone else coming to see them.

"Mon?" she heard Rachel call out. "Are you guys home?"

"Yeah." she called as she went out and saw her with Ross and Phoebe. "I hope you guys meant it when you said you'd help us with anything."

"What happened?" Ross asked. "Where's Chandler?"

"Joey's helping him in the bathroom." She told them. "He wasn't able to make it to the bathroom on time. So one of you can help Joey with Chandler in the bathroom. And the other two can help me strip the bed."

"I think I'll help Joey." Rachel started towards the bathroom. "He's probably no help to him at all."

"All right. You two are helping me then." Monica looked at Ross and Phoebe and they followed her into the bedroom.

"Whoa." Phoebe spotted the bed.

"Do not say anything to Chandler." Monica told them firmly. "I think he thinks that he's a burden on us."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because he has to depend on us to help him. And he's not used to that."

"All right. What can we do to help?" they both got started as they finished stripping the bed and Monica started disinfecting again.

Rachel slowly opened the door to the bathroom and walked in to see Joey standing near the door. Chandler was bent over the toilet spilling the contents of his stomach as Joey stood by the sink looking very uncomfortable.

"How's it going in here?" she asked them.

"Joey's no help to me at all." Chandler managed to get out before he bent back over the toilet and resumed throwing up again.

"You smell like garlic." Rachel looked at Joey. "Did you have pizza today?"

"Maybe." he told her. "What does it matter?"

"You're making him sick. His sense of smell is extra sensitive now."

"It is?"

"Go to your apartment and don't come back until you change into some clean clothes."

"All right. I'm going." he walked out and Rachel went to Chandler.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" she knelt beside him.

"Is that true? About my sense of smell?" he looked at her. "How do you know that?"

"I used to look through my dad's patient files."

"Sneaky." he mumbled.

"So are you feeling better now?"

"A little." he sat up and rested on the edge of the tub. "Talk to me about something. Distract me from this."

"What should we talk about?"

"Emma. How is she?"

"She's getting over a cold. She's with the nanny right now. I hope you don't think we don't want her to be around you."

"Honestly?" he looked at her. "I did a little bit. I've missed seeing her."

"Once she's better, I promise that I will bring her over to see you."

"Chandler?" There was a light knock on the door and slowly Monica came into them. "How are you feeling? Are you ok?"

"I think I'm done." he told her. "I think I'm going to try to take a shower. Wash this disgusting feeling off me."

"I brought you some sweats to change into." She placed them on the sink.

"Thanks." he slowly stood up as Monica and Rachel left the bathroom.

"How's he doing?" Ross asked them when they came out.

"He's stopped throwing up. He's taking a shower now."

"Can we do anything for you?"

"Chandler's dad is supposed to be at the airport in about an hour. Can you pick him up? I think I should stay here with Chandler."

"Of course I'll pick him up. Maybe Joey will want to go with me."

"Go where?" Joey came back in.

"To pick up Chandler's dad at the airport."

"Sure. I'll go with you."

Ten minutes later after Chandler got done with his shower, Joey and Ross left for the airport. At the moment, Chandler was laying across the couch as he nibbled on a piece of dry toast. Phoebe and Rachel were sitting by him as Monica was sterilizing everything again.

"How are you doing, honey?" Monica went to him.

"I finished the toast." he said softly. "I think I'm going to need one of those pills."

"I'll go get you one." she went to the kitchen and searched the cupboard where all of his medications were kept.

"Your color looks better." Phoebe looked at him.

"Thank you for saying so." Chandler sat up a little bit. "Even though I don't really believe you."

"Here you go." Monica brought over a pill and a glass of water and he swallowed it and lay back down. "Just let him rest, you guys."

Chandler drifted off to sleep as Monica started cleaning again. Rachel left after awhile to go check on Emma, but Phoebe stayed and watched TV with Monica once she finished cleaning.

"He looks so peaceful right now." Phoebe glanced at Chandler.

"That's just about the only time he does anymore." Monica sighed as she continued to watch Chandler as he was passed out on the couch.

* * *

A little more than an hour later, the door opened and Ross and Joey came in with Chandler's dad. He set his bags down near the door and approached the living room.

"Sorry we're late." Ross told them. "The plane got delayed."

"It's ok." Monica went to Chandler's dad. "You're here now. He's been looking forward to your visit."

"I hear he's had a rough morning." Charles spotted him passed out on the couch.

"He's better now. He usually feels better after he sleeps for awhile."

"Then let's not disturb him."

"I'm going to go." Phoebe stood up. "It was nice to see you again."

"Yeah. We'll go, too." Ross and Joey walked out behind Phoebe.

"Would you like something to drink?" Monica asked as he sat in the chair across from the couch where Chandler was sleeping.

"Just water is fine."

A little while later, Chandler slowly awoke as he heard soft talking near him. He tried to focus on the voices as he became fully awake. He turned his head and spotted Monica talking to his dad.

"Dad?" he slowly sat up.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Monica smiled at him.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he looked at her.

"You needed your sleep." She told him. "You barely got any last night."

"I know, it's just-"

"It's all right." his dad smiled at him. "I'll be here for a few days. We'll have plenty of time to hang out."

"I'll go see what Rachel and Joey are doing." Monica stood up. "That way you two can hang out."

"Thanks, Mon." Chandler told her as she walked out.

"So how is everything, son?" Charles looked at him. "Are your treatments going all right?"

"They're going fine. They just make me very tired and worn-out."

"It will all be fine. You're strong."

"That's what mom said when she came to see me."

"Your mother was here? How long was she able to stay?"

"Not very long. But she came; that's what matters."

"You're right." Charles nodded. "So would you like to do anything?"

"Actually, I'm getting a little hungry. Why don't we go down the street and get some pizza?"

"Aren't you supposed to be eating healthy?"

"I do, but I get cravings every so often."

"I'll go let Monica know. I can tell that she's a worrier."

"It's gotten worse the last couple months." Chandler told him as he grabbed his jacket and followed his dad out of the apartment.

Monica walked into Rachel and Joey's apartment and saw Rachel coming out of her room with Emma in her arms. Emma reached for Monica and Rachel gave her to her as they all sat on the couch.

"Is she feeling better?"

"Yeah, finally." Rachel sighed. "But I'm going to keep her away from Chandler for one more day just in case."

"That's probably a good idea."

Monica was sitting with Emma on her lap as Rachel sat beside her on the couch. They were both quiet for a long time, barely watching what was on TV.

"I know you've been holding things in." Rachel spoke up after awhile. "Trying to stay strong for Chandler."

"Yeah." she said softly.

"And he's doing the same thing. If you two don't talk to each other about what you're feeling inside, you're going to start resenting each other."

"I know."

"Hello?" There was a knock at the door and it slowly opened as Chandler's dad came in. "He got a craving for pizza, so I'm going to take him down the street to eat. He said that we would bring back a pizza for Joey."

"Ok." Monica smiled at him as she spotted Chandler coming out of their apartment and into the hall. "Have fun. I'll see you when you get back."

Charles walked back out as Chandler offered her a small wave and Monica went back to Rachel and Emma.

"Hopefully spending some time with his dad will be good for him." Monica sighed. "He finally has a relationship with him."

* * *

Monica returned to the apartment a little while later and saw Charles sitting in the chair with the TV volume on low.

"Hey. You weren't out long." She smiled at him.

"He wanted to come back." He told her.

"Is he laying down in the bedroom?"

"No. I'm here." She heard and walked in further and saw him stretched across the couch, wrapped in a blanket.

"What's going on?" she felt his forehead. "Are you nauseous?"

"No. I have a migraine." He said softly. "This is the worst one I've ever had."

"I offered him some Tylenol, but he said he's not supposed to take it." Charles said.

"If it mixes with his medications wrong, it could have an adverse effect on him."

"I guess I have to ride this out on my own." Chandler mumbled.

"I have an idea that might help you if you can wait five minutes."

"I'm not going anywhere." He said softly as Monica went into the bathroom and came back out and started moving around the kitchen.

"Here you go." Monica came back out to them and placed a wash cloth on Chandler's forehead.

"That's cold." He started shivering.

"I know. It was in the freezer for five minutes." She sat on the arm of the couch. "It will help with your migraine; trust me."

"I trust you. It's just cold." He started shivering some more.

"Would you rather have no chills or no migraine?"

"It's a toss-up." He mumbled.

"Was he always this difficult when he was a kid?" Monica looked over at Charles.

"It was much worse when he was sick." He told her.

"That I can believe."

"Sure, gang up on me." Chandler mumbled as he continued to shake uncontrollably and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next few days were a blur to Chandler; it seemed to go too fast for him. He was having too much fun just hanging out with his dad. He spent so much time with his dad going to all the tourist spots as they both caught up with each other's lives. When Chandler had enough energy to stay out for long periods of time, they went to the Knicks games or just went to hang out at restaurants when Chandler actually had an appetite.

His dad even went with Chandler when he had to get his treatments at the hospital. Chandler didn't want him to see him like that, but his dad gave him no choice really. He sat with him in the medicine room as he received the treatments and helped him through all the side effects that he experienced.

Monica arrived home from work one night and saw Chandler and his dad watching TV. Charles was in the chair and Chandler was laying across the couch. She spotted a half-eaten bowl of soup on the counter as she put her purse down on the table.

"Hey. You guys are here already." she smiled at them. "Did you see anymore of the sights today?"

"Not that many." Charles told her. "He's had a rough day."

Monica walked to the couch and saw Chandler lying across it, eyes barely open. She went to him and knelt down beside him as she felt his forehead with one hand and ran her fingers through his hair with the other.

"Chandler honey, are you awake?"

"Yeah." he said softly as his eyes slowly opened and he smiled at her. "I'm glad you're home. I missed you today."

"You feel warm." she felt his forehead again.

"I would've taken him to the hospital." Charles told her. "But he refused to go. He said he was fine."

"I am fine." Chandler mumbled.

"Has he gotten sick?" Monica looked over at Charles.

"No. He's just slept most of the time."

"Hold on a moment." Monica went to the bathroom and came back with a thermometer. "Open up, honey."

"I'm fine, Mon."

"I don't believe you. Now open up." She said firmly.

Chandler slowly opened his mouth and she stuck the thermometer in his mouth. She had to hold it in his mouth for him because he was too weak to do it himself.

"Hello?" the door opened and Phoebe came in with Ross.

"Hey, guys." Monica glanced at her watch as they came in further.

"What happened?" Ross spotted Chandler on the couch.

"He's had a bad day." Monica took the thermometer out of his mouth after it was long enough. "It's normal."

"I told you I was fine." Chandler whispered. "I'm just tired."

"Have you eaten anything?"

"He ate a little soup after we got home." Charles told her. "But he didn't eat that much of it."

"I wasn't hungry." he sat up. "I'm still not."

"I'll let you rest for now while I clean up." Monica told him. "But I want you to try to eat something in a little bit."

"Ok, fine." Chandler sighed as Ross and Phoebe sat down with him on the couch.

"Why don't I tell you about my day." Ross sat beside him.

"That'll put me to sleep." Chandler mumbled and the others laughed as Chandler gave him one of his trademark smirks. "I'm just kidding, man. Go ahead. Tell me about your classes today."

Chandler barely listened to Ross ramble on when his stomach started acting up. He turned on his side hoping to get comfortable enough to fall back asleep, but it didn't help.

"Are you ok?" Ross stopped talking when he heard Chandler start to moan and glanced at him.

"No." he sat upright again as he took a deep breath. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Monica!" Phoebe called frantically when she recognized the familiar look on his face. "We need a trash can now!"

Monica dropped what she was doing and rushed into them with a small, plastic trash can. Phoebe yanked it out of her hands and held it in front of Chandler as he started throwing up in it.

"Monica," Chandler's head fell back against the arm rest of the couch when he was done. "Something is wrong."

"What-" they all looked on as his eyes rolled back in his head so you could only see the whites, and then his whole body went rigid and he slid off the couch.

"Chandler," Monica went to him and shook him to try to get him awake. "Come on, honey. Wake up. You need to open your eyes for me."

Phoebe snatched the phone off the end table and dialed 911. Ross helped Monica to try to revive Chandler.

"He's breathing, right?" he looked at her.

"Yes. He just won't wake up." She continued to try to shake him awake.

"We need an ambulance now!" Phoebe spoke into the phone. "My friend collapsed. He has ALL. Hurry!"

"Monica," They heard Chandler and saw his eyes flutter open.

"Honey, are you ok?" Monica looked down at him.

"Something is wrong." He said softly.

"I know. There's an ambulance coming."

"Is he ok?" Chandler's dad came over to them, a little shaken up after watching the situation from a distance.

"He's awake." Monica felt his forehead. "I think he has a fever. That doesn't make any sense. I just checked it and he was fine."

"Oh god," Chandler moaned. "I need the trash can."

"Let's get him up." Ross lifted Chandler up to a sitting position with him leaning back against the couch.

Monica held the trash can in front of him and he threw up in it as he bent over it. Monica held Chandler's head up as she saw a red substance on his lips.

"Oh my god," Monica gasped. "Phoebe, tell them that he's throwing up blood."

* * *

Rachel walked into Central Perk after a long day at work and spotted Joey at the counter getting some coffee to go.

"Hey, Rach." he spotted her. "How was work?"

"Exhausting." she sighed. "Are you on your way up to see Chandler?"

"Yeah. I hear he's had a bad day."

"Well, wait while I get my coffee and I'll go up with you."

"Sure." He waited with her as she ordered some coffee.

Rachel gathered her coffee and started to follow Joey out of the coffee shop. They stopped when they got outside as they saw an ambulance pull up to the curb. They watched as the EMTs got out of the front cab, pulled the gurney out of the back with their medical bags, and rushed into their building.

"You don't think-It's Chandler, do you?" Joey asked as he glanced at her.

"Let's go." they rushed up the stairs and down the hall and towards their apartment.

They reached Monica and Chandler's apartment and saw that the door was wide open. They slowly walked in and saw the gurney by the couch as one of the EMTs attended to Chandler, who was sitting on the floor leaning back against the couch. The other EMT talked to Monica and Chandler's dad as he assessed the situation. Ross and Phoebe were standing a little bit away from Chandler as they watched all the commotion.

"You guys, what happened?" Rachel went to Phoebe and Ross as Joey went to go see how Chandler was doing.

"We weren't here that long when he started feeling sick." Ross told her. "He was just very weak."

"He told us something was wrong, and then he just fainted." Phoebe said. "I called 911 while Ross and Monica tried to get him awake."

"We got him awake, but he started feeling sick again. That's when Monica discovered that he was throwing up blood."

"Blood?" Rachel gasped as she looked at Joey sitting next to Chandler, trying to talk to him.

Joey glanced at Chandler as he sat next to him and watched him trying to catch his breath. He saw that his eyes were blood shot and watery as he glanced over at Joey.

"I really wish you guys didn't all have to see me like this." Chandler told him softly. "You shouldn't have to."

"We're your friends. We want to help you." he told him. "I'm not afraid to be around you, just so you know. I'm just afraid of making you worse. Of losing you. That's what we're all afraid of."

"I know." Chandler got out before he bent over the trash can again and threw up some more blood.

Monica walked away from the other EMT and knelt beside him. She whispered soothing words in his ear as she slowly rubbed his back.

"I think we should move him now." the EMT next to Chandler called to the other one. "Before he gets even more critical."

The other one came over and helped to get Chandler onto the gurney as Monica helped as best as she could; Chandler was too weak to cooperate with them. They lifted the head of the gurney into an upright position as Monica followed closely behind. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly as he glanced at her and gave her a weak smile.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Ross told them as the EMTs started to push Chandler out and Monica and Chandler's dad followed close behind.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? Better than the original? PLZ R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **Another update for you guys. I'm trying to work on my other Friends stories as well. They're just coming along slowly, but don't worry. I should be posting updates within the next week or so. Sorry if you've been trying to wait patiently for it, but I had to take up some extra shifts because my friend and co-worker went to the Dominican Republic for a church mission trip. Anyway, she is back home now so I can find some time to work on my other stories. Sorry for rambling. On With The Story...

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 7**

Monica stood off to the side with Chandler's dad as they watched all the activity going on all around them. As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they rushed Chandler into a private room and all the chaos ensued. Chandler continued to cough up blood as they connected IVs to him to supplement his medications.

"How are we doing in here?" the door opened and a doctor came into the room.

"Hey, Dr. Brown." Monica followed him closer to the bed.

"Hey Monica." He looked through the chart. "Chandler, how are you feeling?"

"Not good." He moaned as he slowly turned onto his side.

Chandler reached for the nearby basin and Monica snatched it up and held it before him as more blood spilled out.

"Can you tell me what led up to this?" Dr. Brown looked at Monica.

"It was just one of his bad days. He had spent the day with his dad," she gestured to Charles, who was standing near Chandler's head at the moment dabbing at his fevered forehead with a wet washcloth. "But they ended their day early. He was just so weak."

"I understand that you took his temperature and it was normal?"

"Right before he fainted." Monica watched Chandler struggling. "I tried waking him. That's when I noticed that he was burning up. He woke up, and that's when he started throwing up all the blood."

"Doctor, I think he's becoming delirious." Charles called. "He keeps saying your name, Monica."

"Honey," Monica went to him. "I'm right here."

"Mon," Chandler whimpered. "It hurts so much. Please make it stop."

"I would if I could." She told him as she tried not to tear up. "I would take all of this on for you if I could."

"It hurts," Chandler mumbled again.

"What hurts, Mr. Bing?" Dr. Brown asked him.

"Stomach." He said softly.

"Does it feel worse than when you come for your treatments?" Monica rubbed his back as he turned over onto his side again.

"Yeah." He managed to get out before he bent over the basin again.

"Chandler on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, how bad is the pain?" Dr. Brown asked him once he sat up again.

"Twelve." Chandler mumbled. "Throat hurts too."

"We'll get you some ice chips to help with that." Dr. Brown told him. "Your throat is most likely sore from all the throwing up that you've been doing."

"Can you help him?" Charles asked.

"Yes." Dr. Brown assured them.

"Doctor, I think we found the problem." One of the nurses went to him.

They started conversing in low tones and Dr. Brown ordered some more medication. The nurse connected additional IVs to Chandler's arms as Monica and Charles watched on.

"What's going on?" Monica asked. "What happened?"

"It appears that he's developed an infection." Dr. Brown looked at them. "From the looks of it, he's had it for a few days. Which means, that he had it during his last treatment. And that's not good for his immune system at all."

"But he's going to be fine, right?" Monica watched Chandler finally relax.

"Yes. We've just administered some antibiotics and anti-viral medication. He should become settled momentarily so that he can get some rest."

"So he'll be ok now?" Charles asked as he saw his son's eyes slowly close. "What about his treatments? I know he had one scheduled for tomorrow."

"We'll stop them for now, just until this infection is gone. We'll resume them again once we know for sure that it's completely gone."

"We're ready to transfer him to a room now." One of the nurses announced.

"I'll go with him." Charles looked at Monica. "You go ahead and give your friends an update. They're probably giving the nursing staff a hard time."

"You're probably right." Monica went to the bed and softly kissed Chandler on the forehead. "I'll be right back, honey."

"Ok." He managed to get out as the nurses started to get him ready for transport.

Charles followed behind the hospital bed as they started to move him out of the room and down the hall. Dr. Brown walked with Monica out into the hall as they continued to talk about what had happened to Chandler.

* * *

The remaining four were getting anxious trying to wait patiently for any kind of word on Chandler. It had been almost three hours since Chandler was brought in and they still hadn't heard any kind of news on how he was doing. The four of them took turns pacing in the waiting room waiting for Monica to come out and tell them what was going on. The only thing that they did know was that Chandler was still in the ICU and they were running a whole bunch of tests on him; the only reason that the nurses gave up that information to them was because they got tired of them taking turns coming up to the desk every five minutes to see if there was any news yet. Monica and Charles hadn't left Chandler's side since he was brought in, so they knew that they wouldn't hear any official news until he was out of the woods.

"There's Monica." Ross said suddenly and they all looked and saw her walking down the hall towards them as she talked to Chandler's doctor.

"She's coming." they all stood up as she started walking towards them.

"How's he doing, Mon?" Rachel asked her once she had finally reached them.

"He's stable." she sighed.

"So what happened?" Ross asked.

"He caught an infection. And ever since he was diagnosed, his immune system has been compromised. And he's not supposed to have chemo treatments if he's sick."

"But he's going to be ok, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. They put him on some antibiotics and anti-viral medication. And they just need to keep him here for a few days to monitor him."

"Can we see him yet?" Joey asked.

"Yes, but he's on a lot of medication, so he might not even know you're there. He barely recognized me when I left him."

"What kind of medication is he on?" Phoebe asked as they all started to walk down the hall.

"Some of it is to get the infection out of his system, and some of it is to keep his immune system healthy enough so he can resume his chemo treatments when he's better."

They all followed Monica down the hall and into the room where Chandler had just gotten settled. He was laying motionless on the bed and he had an oxygen tube in his nose that led to below his chin; and he had at least three IVs connected to each arm that regulated all the medication that he was on. Charles was sitting by the bed as he just watched him sleep.

"How's he doing?" Monica asked Charles as she approached the bed.

"He's still delirious." He told her. "He's been talking in his sleep since they got him settled in here."

"Dr. Brown told me that that's normal." Monica leaned down over Chandler and softly shook him. "Honey, can you hear me?"

"Mon?" his eyes opened a little as he managed a smile.

"Hey, there. Everyone is here to see you now."

"Hey, buddy." Joey was the first one to approach the bed as the others followed.

"Hey." he tried to smile at him, but his eyes wouldn't stay open.

"Maybe we should come back when he's more alert." Ross told them all.

"You're probably right." Phoebe sighed. "We'll see you in the morning, Chandler."

"Get some rest." Rachel told him.

"Honey, I'm going to walk them to the elevator, ok?" Monica told him.

"Ok." he managed to get out.

Monica walked with them out of the room and down the hall towards the elevators. Rachel and Phoebe held her as they all slowly walked down the hall.

"So how long ago did he stop throwing up the blood?" Phoebe asked her.

"Not that long ago." she sighed. "It was just so hard to see him like that and not be able to help him. He kept asking me to make the pain stop."

"He'll be fine now." Rachel told her.

"So are you staying with him tonight?" Ross asked as they reached the elevators.

"No. They won't let me stay because he's still in the ICU. So I'll be home after visiting hours are over." Monica told them.

"Ok. We'll see you in a little while." they all got into the elevator and Monica went back to Chandler's room and sat with him.

A couple hours later, the doctor came in to check on Chandler. Monica was sitting beside the bed holding his hand as she stroked his hair.

"How's he doing?" Dr. Brown asked them.

"He was starting to hallucinate a little bit ago." Monica told him.

"That's to be expected."

"How did this happen?" Charles asked him. "Don't you check his temperature when he has his treatments?"

"Mr. Bing," Monica looked at him.

"Yes, we do check his temperature a lot." Dr. Brown told them. "But since he's been diagnosed, his temperature is higher than normal. So we didn't see any danger signs at his last session."

"And I checked his temperature just before he collapsed, remember?" Monica reminded him. "And it showed that he was normal."

"But we are monitoring him closely." Dr. Brown assured them. "He's already responding well to the new medications. So hopefully, the infection will be out of his system in a few days. He'll be able to resume his chemo, and he won't be so sick all the time now."

"Thank you." Monica told him.

"Visiting hours are almost over. So you should say your goodbyes now."

"Ok." Dr. Brown walked out and Monica leaned down and kissed Chandler on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, honey."

"Mon?" Chandler's eyes opened.

"Hey. We have to leave now, but we'll all be back in the morning."

"Ok." He said softly.

"I love you."

"Love you, too." Chandler's eyes drifted closed once again.

Charles said a quick good bye to Chandler, and followed Monica out of the room and down to the elevator. Monica rode with Charles to his hotel, and then went back to the apartment for the night to settle in for a lonely night without Chandler there beside her.

* * *

Monica awoke early the next morning and left the apartment before everyone else had a chance to show up. She arrived at the hospital as visiting hours were just starting. She quickly greeted the nurses at the front desk on Chandler's floor and started for his room. She walked into Chandler's room and saw a nurse checking his vitals as she replaced the bags on the IV pole with new ones.

"How's he doing this morning?" she asked the nurse as she put her purse down on one of the empty chairs and moved next to the bed.

"Much better." The nurse smiled at her. "We monitored him closely all throughout the night and I'm happy to inform you that the infection is almost completely out of his system."

"Thank goodness." she sighed.

"I'll come back and check on him in a little while." The nurse gathered her medicine caddy. "Dr. Brown will be stopping by as well."

"Thank you." Monica watched her leave the room and took Chandler's hand in both of hers. "Honey, are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"Monica?" his eyes slowly opened and he smiled up at her. "Hey, beautiful. Did I scare you?"

"A little bit. But the nurse just told me that the infection is almost out of your system. So you might be able to go home tomorrow."

"Good." he sighed. "Will the others be stopping by today?"

"I'm sure that they'll all come by later. And your dad will most likely stop by to see you before he has to leave to catch his flight."

"Right. He's leaving today." Chandler sighed deeply. "Some visit that this turned out to be."

"He had fun hanging out with you this week." She assured him. "He loved talking with you and getting to know his son all over again."

"I guess."

"He just wanted to see you. None of this matters to him."

"I know." he tried to hide a yawn from her, but failed miserably.

"Go back to sleep. You need your rest." she told him as she pulled the covers up over him further. "I'm going to go find Dr. Brown and see when you can actually get out of here."

"Ok." he closed his eyes and fell back into a deep sleep as she walked out.

* * *

Chandler woke up again as he heard some hushed tones near him. He turned his head and saw Monica talking with Dr. Brown near the doorway of his room. He started to sit up on the bed as Monica turned around to look at him when she heard the noise.

"Hey. You're awake." She smiled as she went to him. "Dr. Brown was getting ready to tell me your test results, but since you're awake now-"

"Test results?" Chandler looked at his doctor as he slowly approached the bed.

"Last night when you were brought in, we ran some tests to see how the chemo is helping you." Dr. Brown informed him.

"And?" he felt Monica take his hand and squeeze it tightly.

"I'm sorry to say that the results didn't show what we were hoping they would."

"What does that mean?" Monica asked.

"It means that Chandler hasn't gotten any better. In fact, he may have gotten a little bit worse."

"So-So what happens now?" Chandler asked.

"We keep trying." Dr. Brown told them. "Once the infection is all cleared up, we're going to start you on a stronger dose of chemo."

"How much stronger?"

"You'll feel the effects a lot more strongly. They will be more intense, but in the long run it will be for the better."

"If you think that's for the best." Chandler sighed.

"It's going to be ok." Monica hugged him suddenly and held onto him tightly as Dr. Brown quietly left the room to give the couple some privacy.

"I'm scared, Mon." Chandler whispered. "I can barely handle the treatments now."

"It's ok. We'll get through this, too. We stick together, ok?" she pulled back and looked at him and he nodded.

* * *

A few hours later after they all had some breakfast, everyone else arrived at the hospital and walked into Chandler's room. He was wide awake and sitting up as he talked to Monica, who was sitting next to him on the edge of the bed. They seemed to be having a very tense conversation, and didn't even notice that they were all there yet.

"Hey, buddy." Joey went to him and they both looked back at them all. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok." he sighed. "I mean, for now anyway."

"Are we having a pity party?" Phoebe went to give him a hug.

"You guys, Dr. Brown just gave us some not-so-good news." Monica told them.

"What'd he tell you?" Ross asked.

"The chemo hasn't helped." She told them all. "And he may have gotten worse."

"So what happens now?" Charles, who had just entered the room, asked softly.

"It means that they're going to start him on a stronger dose of chemo. It will be a lot more intense for him."

"It means that I have a lot of fun to look forward to." Chandler said sarcastically.

"It'll be fine." Ross assured him.

"Where's Rachel?" Chandler just noticed that she was missing.

"She's bringing Emma down to see you."

"Won't all these wires scare her?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I don't want Emma to see me like this." Chandler looked at Ross. "Especially since I might be starting the new chemo later today. I'd rather wait for her to see me when I get back home."

"You're sure?"

"As much as I've missed seeing her, I think it's for the best."

"All right. I'll call and tell Rachel." Ross took out his cell phone and went to the corner of the room to talk to Rachel privately.

"My flight is supposed to leave in an hour." Charles approached the bed. "But I can stay and postpone my trip."

"No. It's ok, dad." Chandler told him. "You have a show to do tonight."

"I can postpone that as well."

"It's ok." Chandler assured him. "Go back home and I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I have a very strong support system here."

"There's no doubt about that." Charles smiled at Monica, and she smiled back.

"It was great having you here, though." Chandler told him. "It's just too bad that you had to see me like this."

"It's fine. I'll come back to see you soon and we'll have a much better time."

"That'll be great." Chandler smiled.

"I'll take you to the airport." Monica told him as she looked at Chandler. "Are you going to be all right if I do that?"

"I'll be fine." he assured her. "Everyone else is here if I need anything."

"He's in good hands." Phoebe assured her as she gave Chandler a quick kiss before following Charles out of the room.

* * *

Rachel reached the hospital as soon as she had dropped Emma off at the nanny's. When she got the phone call from Ross with the latest news on Chandler, she knew that Chandler was right for not wanting Emma to see him until he was back home. She stepped out onto Chandler's floor as she saw Chandler's doctor and a couple nurses pushing his hospital bed towards her with the others following close behind.

"What's going on?" she asked them.

"I'm out of the woods now, so they're transferring me down to Oncology." Chandler informed her. "Then they're going to run some tests to see if they can start me on my new chemo regimen."

"Is Monica on her way back yet?" She looked at everyone.

"She should be." Ross told her as they all rode in the service elevator with Chandler down to Oncology and waited while they got him settled into a room.

* * *

Chandler was slowly eating off a lunch tray as the other four silently sat around his bed. Monica had been gone for over an hour taking Chandler's dad to the airport. Chandler really hoped that she was on her way back because everyone else was making him very uncomfortable with their not talking.

"Hello, everyone." The door opened and Dr. Brown came into them. "How are you feeling, Chandler? Any better?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "Just not hungry."

"Well, try to eat a little more. I just checked your other test results and it looks like the infection is completely gone."

"That's great." Joey smiled. "So he's better then?"

"Yes." Dr. Brown assured them.

"So that means you want me to start the new regimen today." Chandler looked at Dr. Brown. "How soon?"

"I'd like to start you on it after lunch."

"Can we wait until Monica gets back? I'd rather not do it without her."

"Ok. We can wait." Dr. Brown assured him. "But I'd like to start sooner rather than later. So try to call her to see if she's on her way."

"I'm on it." Rachel took out her cell phone and dialed the familiar number

* * *

Monica was just finishing helping Charles to check in his luggage at baggage claim when her phone started to ring. She glance at the caller ID and saw that it was Rachel.

"Rach?" she clicked her phone on as Charles went to the ticket counter. "What's going on? Is Chandler ok? What? No. I'm on my way. Tell him that I will be there as soon as I can. Ok."

"Is everything all right?" Charles turned to look at her.

"Dr. Brown says that the virus is completely out of his system. So he wants to start Chandler on the new chemo regimen. But he wants me there when they start it."

"Say no more. Go be with him. They're about to board my flight anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"My son needs you more than I do right now. Go be with him. I'll call you when my plane lands to see how he's doing."

"All right. Have a safe flight." Monica left him in line and rushed out to where she had parked the car.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? Will Monica make it to Chandler's side in time? PLZ R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **Another update for you guys. Hope you like this version. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See earlier chapters.

**Chapter 8**

Monica returned to the hospital and took the elevator up to Oncology. She walked into Chandler's room and saw him lying on his side as Rachel sat beside the bed in a chair as she read a magazine.

"What happened?" she went to Chandler. "Did they start already?"

"No. Not yet." Chandler turned to look at her. "I'm just preparing myself."

"He's fine." Rachel assured her. "The doctor will be coming in to start his new chemo in a little bit. He didn't want all of us in here, so I told him I would stay until you got here. The others went down to the cafeteria."

"So you're really ok?" Monica looked down at Chandler.

"I'm fine right now." Chandler said softly. "I'm just getting nervous about this."

"You're going to be fine." She assured him. "I'm here now, and I'll stay with you the entire time."

"I know."

"I'll go since you're here now." Rachel told Monica.

"You don't have to leave." Chandler told her.

"No, really. It's ok." She started to gather her things. "I know you don't want us to see you so sick."

"How is Emma?" Monica looked at Rachel.

"I left her with the nanny. I think she knew something was wrong when I left."

"I'm sorry you didn't get to see Emma today." Monica looked at Chandler.

"Me too." He said softly.

"It's ok. I'll bring her by after you get out of the hospital." Rachel told him as she left the room.

"So did my dad's plane take off all right?" Chandler looked at Monica.

"He was just boarding when I left him." She told him. "He said he'll call when his plane lands to see how you're doing."

Monica started to run her fingers through Chandler's hair as she softly spoke encouraging words to him.

"All right." The door opened and Dr. Brown entered the room followed my Nurse Wendy. "Are we ready to get this started?"

"As I'll ever be." Chandler mumbled as the nurse moved the top of his hospital gown to get to his port-a-cath.

Monica watched as they hooked up Chandler's new medicine and started to swab his thigh with an alcohol wipe.

"What's that?" Monica asked as Wendy got a syringe ready.

"It's for his nausea."

"You always put it in my IV before." Chandler looked at her.

"This is a different kind than the one you're used to. This one has to be injected intramuscular."

"Ok." Chandler turned his head away and flinched as he felt the prick.

"All right. We're all set up." Dr. Brown told them.

"How long until he experiences the effects?" Monica asked them.

"It's hard to say, but it will most likely hit you suddenly."

"Great." Chandler mumbled sarcastically.

"I'll come back in a little bit to check on you." Dr. Brown told them before departing from the room.

"I really hate seeing the inside of this place so much." Chandler whispered as he turned to look at Monica.

"Maybe we can go out of town for a few days." she told him. "Maybe out to the country or something. Get some fresh air."

"How would we do that? I have to be here three days a week for chemo."

"Maybe I can talk to your doctor; work something out. We could definitely use some time away."

"You can try." he mumbled as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Monica started flipping through a magazine as Chandler dozed on the hospital bed. She looked up when she heard movement from the bed and saw Chandler turn over onto his side as he clutched at his stomach tightly.

"Honey?" she went to him and sat behind him as she rubbed his back.

"It's starting." He mumbled.

"Do you need the basin?"

"I don't think so. Not yet."

"Just let me know if you need me to get anything for you."

"Ok." He said softly as she continued to rub his back.

Monica continued to sit behind him as she whispered encouraging words to him. Chandler's moaning got more intense as the minutes dragged on.

"Basin," Chandler whispered and Monica snatched it off the side table and went around to the other side of the bed and held it before him as he emptied his stomach.

"It's ok, honey." She soothed as he gagged and started to cry.

"God, this hurts so much." He moaned as he slowly rolled over.

"What exactly hurts?"

"My stomach, my throat,"

"It's going to be ok." She ran her hand through his hair and gasped.

"What?" he looked at her.

"What?" she repeated.

"Why'd you gasp? What happened? What's wrong?"

"Ok. We both knew that this was a possibility." She started. "It's one of the side effects of the treatment, so we should've expected this."

"What are you talking about?" he slowly sat up.

"Ok." She opened her closed fist and showed him what she was hiding.

Chandler's eyes widened as he saw a handful of his hair. He took his hand and slowly swept it through his hair and pulled out more. They were both silent for several minutes until Monica finally broke the silence.

"It's ok." She told him. "It will grow back. Once you're done with these treatments, it will all grow back."

"Yeah. I know you're right." He mumbled. "Where's my cell phone?"

"What?"

"Can you find my cell phone? I need to do something."

"Ok." She went to the bag of belongings and dug it out as she brought it over to him.

He flipped it open and searched the memory until he found the number that he wanted and dialed as Monica watched.

* * *

The others were still sitting around in the cafeteria. They were waiting until Chandler was done with his new treatment before they went in to hang out with him for a little bit before they left for the night. Joey's cell phone started to ring and he took it out and glanced at the Caller ID.

"Chandler?" he spoke into the phone as the others glanced over at him. "Is everything ok? Sure, I can pick up some things for you? What do you need? All right. They probably have all that in the gift shop, so I'll probably be up there in about ten minutes. Ok. See you soon."

"What was that about?" Ross asked him.

"Chandler wants me to pick up a few things for him and meet him in his room."

"What things?" Phoebe asked him.

"Shaving cream, a razor, and a baseball cap."

"You're sure that's what he asked for?" Rachel asked.

"I'm positive." He told them. "I know why he asked for those things, guys. I was also told to come by myself, so he obviously doesn't want a lot of witnesses."

"All right. We'll stay here." Phoebe told him as he walked out of the cafeteria.

"Poor Chandler," Rachel sighed. "Everything is just changing so fast for him."

"He'll be fine." Phoebe assured them. "I think he's so much stronger than we give him credit for."

Joey quickly found everything he needed from the gift shop and headed up to Oncology. He knocked softly on Chandler's door and slowly walked in to see him sitting upright on the bed. Monica was placing some towels from the bathroom around his neck and shoulders.

"Hey. I got it all." He told him. "Just so you know the others were with me when you called so they kind of figured out what's going on."

"It's not like it's going to be a secret for long." Chandler told him. "I mean, they'll figure it out once they see me."

"Now are you really sure that you want to do this?" Monica asked him for the fifth time since he hung up with Joey.

"I'm sure." He watched her take the items out of the paper bag. "I don't want my hair to just fall out little-by-little. I want to do this."

"Ok." She picked up the razor. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." He nodded as Joey moved closer to the bed.

"Try not to move." Monica told him. "I don't want to cut you. And tell me if you start feeling sick again."

"All right." He closed his eyes as he felt the first glide of the razor.

* * *

Chandler was released from the hospital a couple days later. He had a lot more energy now that the infection was out of his system. His reactions to the chemo were getting better as well. Of course he would feel sick and absolutely miserable while he was going through it, but a few hours after they ended he would be energized. He would be very sleepy for a little while after they were over, but other than that he was fine. He still got sick and threw up, but not as much as he did before.

Everyone else obviously knew that Chandler was completely bald now. They mentioned it briefly that first time they saw him after he had Monica shave it all off, but they didn't talk about it that much after that. He wore hats to keep the baldness covered so that it wouldn't make them all uncomfortable all the time.

Rachel walked into Monica and Chandler's one afternoon and saw Chandler resting back on the couch as a game played on TV. Joey was sitting in the chair across from him and Ben was perched next to Chandler on the couch as they all watched it together. Carol and Susan had dropped Ben off earlier because he kept pestering them to spend some time with his Uncle Chandler.

"There's Uncle Chandler," Rachel smiled at them as she held Emma in her arms.

"Hey, Emma." Chandler looked back and spotted them both. "Will she be ok with me today?"

"I think she'll be fine." Rachel assured him as she situated Emma on Chandler's lap and saw him smiling. "See? She's not crying."

"Good." He sighed. "Hey. Can you get me a Popsicle from the freezer? My throat is sore again."

"Sure." She went into the kitchen.

"Can I have one, too?" Ben asked.

"How many is in there?" Chandler looked back at Rachel.

"It's a full box. Never been opened."

"Go ahead and get him one, too."

"Here you both are." Rachel came back with them. "Where's Monica?"

"She went down to get the mail." Chandler told her as he let Emma take a lick from his Popsicle.

"Hey guys," the door opened and Ross came in with Phoebe and another guy.

"I want you guys to meet Mike." Phoebe went in to them. "We've been seeing each other the past few weeks."

"Nice to meet you." Chandler shook Mike's hand. "I would get up-"

"Don't worry. I know all about it." Mike assured him. "Phoebe told me what all you've been through these past few weeks. So how are your treatments going?"

"Better now." Chandler told him. "I obviously get sick still, but it's a lot better than it was."

"Mike had a cousin who had cancer." Phoebe told them.

"Had?"

"It wasn't found until it was very advanced." Mike told them.

"Oh." Chandler said softly.

"Hey." Monica came in and went up to Chandler. "Here's all your mail, honey."

"Thanks." he started skimming through it. "There's something from my work in here. It feels very thick."

"Open it up." Monica told him as she went to throw all the junk mail away.

"Whoa." Chandler sat up as about twenty hand-written checks fell out of the envelope. "Mon, you need to come and look at this."

"What is it?" she came over and saw all the checks. "Is that from your work?"

"Yeah." he pulled out the letter and Monica took it from him.

'We're all very sorry to hear what you're going through. We know this isn't nearly enough, but hopefully it will help you out a little bit.'

"They must've put together a donation for you." Ross told them.

"It's very generous of them." Chandler looked at the amounts on each check. "I can't believe they did this."

"Every little bit can help right now." Monica sighed as she looked at them all.

They all sat down and started to watch the rest of the game with Chandler and Joey as they all tried to get to know Mike.

Later that night after everyone else had left, Chandler went to bed early when he started feeling a little nauseous. Monica cleaned up a little and took a quick shower before she went into their bedroom. She walked in to see Chandler sitting on the edge of his side of the bed looking a little green as he held the trash can in front of him.

"Honey, are you ok?" she went to him.

"Yeah." he said softly as he took a deep breath. "I haven't thrown up yet. I'm just feeling really nauseous."

"It'll be all right." She sat down beside him and held him.

"Mon," he looked at her. "Everything is happening all at once. It's just so many changes in such a short time."

"Yes, it is." she rubbed his back. "But it's all going to be ok, though."

"I know that." He sighed.

"Would you like to hear some good news?" she looked at him. "I was going to wait to tell you about it tomorrow, but I think you should hear it now."

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"Dr. Brown gave us the ok to go out of town for a few days." She revealed. "He thinks it will be good for us; you especially."

"What about my chemo treatments?"

"He's going to lend us the equipment and I'll administer it to you while we're away. I just have to check in with him every few days to give him updates."

"Is that why the nurse let you put the IV in yesterday?"

"Yeah." she smiled at him. "So what do you think? Do you still want to get away?"

"Where will we stay?"

"One of my co-workers has a cabin we can use. It's right on the lake."

"That sounds peaceful."

"So do you want to go?"

"Yeah. It sounds great." he smiled at her.

"Good. Now why don't we get some sleep." they both got into bed and nestled into each other as they slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

All throughout the next week, Chandler and Monica spent trying to get things around for their trip. Chandler eventually stopped going to work, but his boss assured him that his job would be waiting for him once he was ready to come back. He still got extremely sick from his treatments, but it still wasn't as bad as before.

Monica walked into Central Perk one morning to get a couple coffees to go for her and Chandler. The other four came in and saw her standing at the counter.

"Hey." Rachel went up to her. "I figured you'd be gone by now."

"I just came in to get us some coffee for the trip." Monica told them.

"Where's Chandler?" Ross asked.

"He's waiting out in the car for me."

"I'll go tell him good bye." Joey walked outside and Ross followed him.

"So how's he doing today?" Phoebe looked at Monica.

"He's all right." Monica sighed. "He didn't get much sleep last night, so he'll probably sleep the whole way there."

"The fresh air will do him some good." Rachel assured her.

"I hope you're right." Monica grabbed their coffees and started out of the coffee house. "We'll call you later tonight."

"Have fun." Phoebe told her.

Chandler had his head lying back against his seat when he heard a light tap on his window. He smiled when he turned his head and saw Joey and Ross standing by his window. He slowly reached over and rolled the window down as they smiled at him.

"Hey." he said softly.

"Monica's getting your coffee. We wanted to tell you good bye." Joey told him. "You look exhausted." Ross added.

"I didn't sleep well." Chandler let out a yawn.

"You'll be able to rest and relax while you're up there."

"Here we go." Monica came out and got back into the car as she handed one of the coffees to Chandler. "We'll call you guys when we get there."

"Have fun and try to relax while you're there." Phoebe told them.

"Bye." Chandler rolled his window back up and offered them all a small wave as they pulled away from the curb.

Chandler finished off his coffee and eventually fell asleep as Monica put on some music. He slept the whole drive there and didn't wake up again until Monica started to shake him gently.

"Hey. We're here." she told him when his eyes slowly opened.

"This is a big cabin." he slowly sat up as he spotted the structure before them.

"Let's get everything inside." She told him. "Then we can relax, and you can sleep some more."

"Ok." he slowly got out of the car and they got all their bags out of the car and into the house.

Chandler rested on the couch as he watched Monica take all the hospital equipment up to the bedroom that they would be using. She came back down after she was done and spotted him almost asleep.

"How are you feeling, honey?" she went into him. "Are you still tired?"

"Just a little." he sighed as he sat up a little bit so she could sit by him. "I wish I didn't feel like this all the time. I wish I had the energy to do things like I used to."

"It's going to be ok." she lay against him. "You won't feel like this all the time. It will go away once you're in remission."

"I know." he said sleepily.

"Why don't you try sleeping again." she looked up at him.

"Only if you join me." He looked at her.

"Ok." she smiled at him as she rested her head on his chest and they fell asleep.

A few hours later Chandler awoke and looked around, but didn't see Monica beside him. He slowly sat up as he heard some noise coming from the kitchen. He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen as he saw Monica making some sandwiches and putting them in a basket sat on the counter.

"Hey." she spotted him standing there. "How'd you sleep?"

"All right." he rubbed his eyes as he walked in to her. "What are you doing?"

"It's really nice outside, so I thought that maybe it'd be fun if we had a picnic under the stars tonight." she told him.

"That sounds great." he smiled at her. "Have you called the others yet?"

"No. Not yet."

"You know they're probably worried about us since we haven't checked in with them yet."

"Probably." she smiled as he took out his cell phone and dialed.

"Hey, Joe. We got to the cabin all right. Yeah. It's pretty nice. I'll talk to you later, ok? All right. Bye." He hung up the phone and shook his head.

"So were they worried about us?" she asked him as she closed the basket.

"A little." he smiled.

"So everything is ready for the picnic. Do you feel like going now? Or do you want to wait a little bit?" she looked at him.

"Now is fine. We can watch the sunset."

"Ok. We just need a couple blankets."

"I'll get them. Where are they?"

"Check the hall closet by the door." she followed him with the picnic basket as he opened the closet door and found a couple soft blankets for them to use.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? Is this better than the original? PLZ R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Here's another story for all of you. I'm glad you're all liking this rewrite. I assure you that I am working on my other Friends stories as well. I'm just able to write this faster since I already have a version of it written. Anyway, PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapters.

**Chapter 9**

Chandler followed Monica outside and they walked down the path that led down to the lake, letting their flashlight beams help lead their way. A few moments later, they were on the beach and started to set everything up. Chandler spread out the blankets on the sand as Monica got all the food out of the basket.

"This is nice." Chandler smiled at her as they both sat down on the blankets and he took a sandwich from her. "It's so peaceful out here. So quiet."

"We don't have to worry about everyone bursting in on us either." Monica glanced over at him. "Don't get me wrong; I enjoy hanging out with the others. But sometimes I'd rather be with just you."

"They got so much worse after I was diagnosed." Chandler sighed. "I don't mind it much, but sometimes I wish they would just back off."

"What about me? Do you ever feel that way about me?" she looked over at him.

"Truthfully?" he slowly looked over at her and she nodded. "And you promise that you won't get mad about whatever I say?"

"I promise." She took his hand.

"Ok. Sometimes I feel that way when you're overly helpful to me." He started to tell her as he finished his sandwich. "I just want to tell you to back off, but then I think of everything you've done for me since I was diagnosed. So I can't bring myself to say it."

"I can sense it sometimes." She squeezed his hand.

"You can?" he suddenly felt guilty.

"It's easy to get upset with someone close to you when something like this happens. Because you know they'll love you no matter what."

"I guess you're right." he smiled at her as she handed him the dessert.

"Now let's get to the serious stuff." she turned to face him and he did the same thing. "Are you ever afraid?"

"You mean of dying?" he looked up at her slowly.

"Yeah." she said softly.

"Not so much of death." he told her seriously. "More like I'm afraid of time. Not having enough of it to spend time with everyone that I love; and to do all the things that I want to do before my time is up."

"So then do you ever get mad at your parents for not being here with you during this whole thing?"

"A little bit." he sighed. "I mean, I should be used to it by now. They were never there when I was growing up. But there is a chance that I won't survive. You'd think that they'd want to spend as much time with me as they possibly can."

"Maybe they're afraid." she told him. "They're afraid that they'll lose you forever. Maybe they don't want to watch you slip away from them little by little."

"Maybe you're right." he set his half-eaten dessert down. "I'm full. That's a nice feeling."

"To have a full stomach?" she smiled at him.

"Yeah." He smiled back. "It's nice to have your cooking again."

"Maybe you can have more of it while we're here." she told him as he slowly lay back on the blanket.

"Sounds great." he murmured.

Monica lay down beside him as well as they watched the sun start to go down. Chandler held her close to him as he slowly started to run his fingers through her hair as they watched the sunset. They stayed like that for the next couple of hours until Chandler started shivering.

"Did it suddenly get very cold out?" he asked her.

"I am kind of cold." she sat up. "We should probably head back."

They started to pack everything back up and slowly started the walk back up the path to the cabin. Once they walked inside, Monica went to the kitchen and started to unload the picnic basket as Chandler put the blankets back in the closet.

"I'm exhausted." he sighed as they met up in the hall way by the stairs. "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

"What do you say that we save time and take one together?" Monica smiled at him.

"Oh." he stopped abruptly and looked at her. "Ok. Sure."

"I saw that, you know." she stated.

"What?" he looked back at her.

"That look you gave." She sighed. "Honey, I know you. I know that you're afraid to get undressed in front of me now. Do you think I don't notice these things? That I don't know how much weight you've lost since the diagnosis? Even though you've been wearing baggy clothes to try to hide it from all of us."

"You saw all that?" he asked softly

"I've also noticed that you'll only get dressed in the dark, and that you won't look in the mirror when you have your shirt off. You don't want to face it because then it will all become too real for you."

"You're right." he sighed. "I don't want to face it; not alone anyway."

"So what do you say that we face it together?" she took his hand as she led him towards the stairs. "We'll go upstairs into the bathroom, get undressed, and face it together. Then we'll take a shower together like we used to."

"Ok." he said softly as she led him upstairs.

* * *

Chandler stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched as Monica started running the water for their shower. She turned around and saw him just standing there, not moving from where he was in the doorway.

"Come on." she went to him and took his handas she led him to in front of the mirror. "Why don't we start out slow. Let's take off the hat first."

"All right." he slowly reached up and removed the Knicks hat that he had been wearing since he shaved off all his hair. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Then I want you to open your eyes and look in the mirror."

"Right." he slowly opened his eyes and looked in the mirror for the first time since he started chemo.

"See?" Monica came up behind him and looked with him. "It doesn't look that bad. At least not to me."

"Really?" he asked softly.

"Really." she assured him. "Go on now. Keep going."

Chandler slowly started to unbutton his shirt and let it slip off his shoulders and fall to the floor. He looked in the mirror at himself and didn't like what he saw. He had lost so much more weight than he thought he had. He could see his ribs so clearly that he could count them all.

"See? It's not that bad." Monica stood in front of him.

"Even with this?" he gestured to the port-a-cath sticking out from his collarbone.

"I don't even notice it anymore." She told him. "I think you still look amazing."

"You really think so?" he looked at her. "I don't look absolutely horrible?"

"Not to me. You're just as handsome as you were when we first started dating." she smiled at him. "Now come on. Let's take a shower and go to bed."

"Ok." he unfastened his belt and slid off his pants and boxers. He stepped into the shower with Monica and she closed the curtain as they held onto each other for several minutes.

A little while later, they were both lying in bed with damp hair and just holding each other. Monica had her head resting on Chandler's bare chest as they listened to each others' gentle breathing and he slowly started to run his fingers through her hair.

"Thank you." Chandler said softly.

"For what?" she looked up at him.

"Thank you for helping me to face everything; especially the things that I'm too afraid to face on my own."

"I'll always help you through anything that you need to face. I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you." he told her as he reached over to turn out the light and they tried to get some sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Monica slowly awoke and reached out for Chandler. She sat up abruptly when she realized that his side of the bed was empty. She slowly climbed out of bed and went in search of him. She thought maybe he had started to feel sick during the night and didn't want to wake her up. She went to look in the bathroom, but after not finding him there she went downstairs to look for him.

She saw no sign of him, but could smell the strong scent of freshly-brewed coffee. She went into the kitchen and saw the coffee maker full. She also saw a note stuck to it and pulled it off and read: 'Stop worrying. Grab some coffee and join me on the porch.'

She took a mug from the cupboard and poured herself a cup. She walked out onto the porch with it and saw Chandler laying across the porch swing as he read a book. She walked out to him and he looked up at her.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," he smiled at her as he slowly sat up. "Morning."

"How long have you been awake?" she sat beside him.

"A couple hours." He told her. "I had to use the bathroom-don't worry, I didn't get sick-but I couldn't get back to sleep. So I came out here."

"Did you get to watch the sunrise?"

"Yeah." he smiled at her. "But now I'm getting a little hungry."

"How about I make you some breakfast? Are you up for some bacon and eggs?"

"Sounds great." he smiled as they both got up off the swing and walked into the cabin. "But I'm supposed to have a treatment later today. So don't make a lot. I don't want to see it in reverse."

"Sure." she smiled at him.

A few hours later, Monica walked into their bedroom and saw Chandler laying on his side fast asleep. He was almost halfway done with his treatment, and it seemed to be going all right. She carefully sat beside him and gently shook him.

"Honey," she whispered.

"Yeah?" he opened his eyes and turned over to look at her.

"How are you doing? Are you feeling all right?"

"So far, so good." He mumbled. "What's going on?"

"I was going to drive into town to get a few things at the store. Do you want me to pick you up something? Are you hungry?"

"Not right now. But you can get me a turkey sandwich for later."

"Ok." she smiled. "I put your cell phone on the night stand in case you need to call me. And there's a trash can on the floor."

"Ok." he pulled the covers up and fell back asleep as she walked out of the room.

* * *

Monica got back to the cabin a little bit later and put their lunch in the refrigerator for later. She started to walk upstairs to check on Chandler as she heard a familiar noise. She slowly opened the door and found him sitting up on the bed throwing up in the trash can before him. She went to sit beside him and rubbed his back. He finally stopped and looked at her.

"Better?" she asked.

"A little." he said softly as he started to shiver.

"Are you cold again?"

"I hate all these side effects."

"We're handling all of them." she assured him as the machine next to the bed started to beep.

She slowly took out the IV and Chandler slowly got off the bed and made his way to the bathroom. He was in the bathroom for awhile and finally came back out and lay down on the bed and curled into a tight ball. Monica pulled the blanket over him again and lay down beside him and held him.

"Can I do anything to help you feel better?" she asked him.

"You're doing it." he whispered. "Just stay with me."

"You got it." she got settled beside him. "Hey. Why don't we talk. Like how we used to when we were first dating."

"Ok. What do you want to talk about?"

"I know." She smiled at him. "When was the first time you started to see me as more than just a friend?"

"You already know that."

"No, I don't." she shook her head. "You know that I fell in love with you that first Thanksgiving when we met. The one where you turned out to be jerk."

"Sorry about that again." He mumbled.

"It's all right. Now tell me when you started to fall in love with me."

"Ok." He thought about it for a moment. "I guess I'd have to say the night that Ben was born."

"What? That long?"

"I don't think I realized what I was feeling. I just knew that something had changed suddenly." He explained. "When you were having a hard time about wanting a baby and I offered myself up as a backup, I just knew that I wanted you in my future."

"So why didn't you say anything back then?"

"I didn't know what I was feeling exactly." He looked at her. "And then you started dating Richard and then Pete. I didn't think that it would've been fair to reveal it to you. Besides, I didn't think you felt the same way. I didn't want to put myself out there and not have you return it."

"I can understand that." She saw that he had fallen asleep and smiled at him as she leaned closer to him to whisper. "Everything changed for me that night, too."

* * *

The next several days, Chandler and Monica spent at the cabin just trying to relax and enjoying each others' company. They called the others at least once a day to let them know that they were ok and to catch up on what was going on with each other. They spent most of their time sitting on the beach or on the porch swing just talking and holding each other.

Monica was laying on the couch one afternoon reading a magazine when she heard Chandler come downstairs after he decided to take a short nap.

"Hey. How'd you sleep?" she sat up.

"Not great." he slowly sat beside her. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"You know how much I've enjoyed spending all this time alone with you, but I've missed everyone these past few days."

"Me, too." she smiled at him. "Would you like me to see if they can come down and see us this weekend?"

"Yeah." he watched her go to the kitchen and grab the phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Rach." She greeted her once she picked up on the end. "How are you guys? We're doing fine. We miss you, too. That's why I'm calling actually. We were hoping that you guys could get a few days off work and come down for the weekend. Phoebe can bring Mike if she wants. That's great. Ok. We'll see you all tomorrow sometime."

"Can they all come?" Chandler looked at her as she came back into him.

"Yes. They've all missed us. So they're all coming tomorrow morning. And they will be bringing Emma with them as well."

"I'm glad." he smiled at her. "I've really missed all of them."

"So what should we do tonight?" she looked at him.

"I feel like laying in the yard and just looking at the stars. Are you up for it?"

"Sure." she smiled at him. "But it's extra cold out tonight. So we'll have to take some extra blankets."

"Ok." he smiled back at her.

They got up and grabbed the blankets from the hall closet before heading outside and settling themselves on the grass in front of the porch. They just held each other for several hours as they watched the sunset and just watched the stars.

* * *

The next morning, Monica and Chandler had a quick breakfast and sat on the porch swing wrapped in a soft blanket. Chandler was extremely exhausted that day and barely had any energy, so Monica made him rest as much as possible. He had a treatment in a little while and he was not looking forward to it at all. They heard a car honk and sat up and smiled as they saw Phoebe's cab and another car pull up.

"You stay put." Monica told Chandler. "I'll help them unload everything."

"Ok." he watched her go down the steps to greet them and he wrapped the blanket around him tighter.

Joey climbed out of the cab and spotted Monica coming down off the porch as Chandler stayed on the swing. He was bundled in a blanket and he wasn't wearing his hat so they could all see that he was completely bald.

"I'm so glad that you all could come." Monica smiled at them.

"So how's he doing?" Rachel looked towards Chandler.

"Better. We've been talking a lot more. About everything."

"That's great."

"But he's a little tired today, and he has a treatment in a little bit."

"I see he's stopped wearing his hat." Ross said.

"I made him face reality. If it makes any of you uncomfortable, you need to find a way to be ok with it."

"We'll be ok." Phoebe told her.

"Let's get all our bags inside so we can enjoy this little vacation." Rachel said as they started to take their luggage into the cabin and Chandler slowly sat up.

"Hey, buddy." Joey smiled at him. "How are you feeling today?"

"Tired." he sighed. "But I'm always tired now."

"Can you watch Emma for us while we unload everything?" Rachel asked Chandler. "We can't keep an eye on her while we unpack."

"Sure." he took Emma from her and held her on his lap as they all took their things into the cabin.

"I'll stay here with you." Joey told him. "You know me, anything to get out of doing any manual labor."

"Thanks, man." Chandler looked at him.

"No problem. So how are you really doing?"

"I'm still fighting."

"Good."

"I'm surprised she's not freaking out from my bald head." Chandler glanced down at Emma content on his lap.

"You don't look that different." Joey told him.

"So you're not going to say anything about my head?" Chandler looked at Joey.

"I thought it'd make you uncomfortable."

"It most likely will. But I want you all to be truthful with me. I can tell that you're all a little bit uncomfortable to be around me now. But we all need to be honest."

"Ok. It's a little weird to see you bald. But you'll be fine. It'll grow back."

"Monica keeps telling me the same thing."

"She's right, you know. You should listen to her."

"Honey," Monica came out to them after showing everyone where all the bedrooms were. "I know everyone just got here and you want to visit with them, but you need to start your treatment."

"Right." he handed Emma off to Joey and he followed Monica inside and up the stairs into their bedroom.

Chandler got situated and lay back on the bed. Monica got the IV in and pressed a button on the machine next to the bed once she was sure that she had done everything right. Chandler turned over on his side and grabbed a book that was on the bedside table as Monica covered him with a blanket.

"Will you be ok by yourself for a little bit or do you want me to stay with you?" she looked at him.

"I'll be ok." he told her. "I'll just read for a little bit."

"I'll come and check on you in about a half hour. Call for me if you need anything at all."

"Ok." he said softly as he watched her walk out of the room.

A couple hours later, Phoebe and Mike came upstairs to find some beach towels. They all decided to walk down and sit on the beach in front of the lake. They silently peered into Chandler and Monica's room when they heard a stifled moan. They saw Chandler really out of it as he shook uncontrollably and Monica slowly rubbed his back as she whispered soothing words in his ear. She looked up and saw them standing there and silently got off the bed and walked out to them.

"How's he doing?" Phoebe asked her.

"He's having a restless nap. The new treatment really wears him down." she told them. "So what's going on?"

"We all decided to go down to the beach for a little while. Do you think you guys will be able to join us later?"

"Chandler's almost done with his treatment, but he's really tired. We might be able to get down there in a few hours if he's up to it."

"Ok. I hope you can make it." Phoebe and Mike walked back downstairs with the towels and Monica went back into Chandler.

"Mon?" Chandler awoke suddenly and looked all around the room.

"I'm here." she rushed over to him. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"

"Stomach hurts." he moaned. "Really hurts. I think I need the trash can."

"Here it is." she grabbed it up off the ground and held it before him as he sat up.

She sat beside him rubbing his back as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the trash can before him. He stopped after only a few moments and she held him as he practically collapsed against her.

"Feel better?" she asked him.

"A little." he sighed. "Did I hear Phoebe in here earlier?"

"Her and Mike were looking for some towels. Everyone decided to go down to the beach right now. I said we might meet them down there in a few hours. That'll give you enough time to recover from the treatment and to see if you're well enough."

"Sounds good." he said as the machine started beeping, indicating that he had finished his current treatment.

Monica got up from the bed and took out the IV as she checked the machine. She took his temperature as she felt his forehead and accessed what kind of condition he was in. He lay back down on the bed once she was finished and she sat beside him as he continued to shiver.

A few hours later, Monica and Chandler made their way slowly down the path that led down to the beach. They saw everyone playing around; Joey and Ross were throwing a Frisbee back and forth to each other, Rachel was sitting with Emma as she played in the sand, and Phoebe and Mike were sitting on a blanket as they watched everyone.

"Hey. You guys made it." Ross smiled as he spotted them making their way towards them.

"Just barely." Chandler mumbled as they set up their blanket beside Rachel and Emma.

Chandler was overdressed for the warm weather they were having that day; he was wearing a pair of sweat pants with a Knicks sweatshirt as he started to shake from the ever-present chills he was constantly experiencing.

"How are you feeling, Chandler?" Rachel asked as he sat down and Monica wrapped another blanket around him tightly.

"Better." he smiled at Emma with her shovel and pail.

"Do you want to help Emma build a sand castle? I've been trying to teach her how to build one, but I'm not having much luck."

"Sure. Sounds fun." he smiled as Rachel placed Emma on his lap and he helped her fill her bucket with sand as Monica sat nearby with Joey and Ross and smiled at the scene before her. She really hoped that there were more scenes like this to come for all of them.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? There will be some drama coming in the next few chapters. Hope you enjoyed this. PLZ R&R!

_If anyone is interested, I'm also posting on another site. There's a friends story on there that I haven't posted on here yet. The address is. www archiveofourown org. Just take out all the spaces and put periods in their place. My username is the same as it is on here. Feel free to check it out. or not. _


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Another update for you guys. Hope you all like it. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapters.

**Chapter 10**

They continued to spend all that next week at the cabin. On Chandler's good days, he would go down to the beach and pal around with everyone; he even sometimes ventured into the water with Emma as she showed her excitement at the tiny waves lapping over her feet. On his bad days, he would spend lounging on the couch or reclined on the porch swing bundled in a warm blanket as he watched the others enjoying their days.

Monica silently walked out onto the porch as she spotted Chandler bundled up on the swing. Today was one of his bad days; he had been lethargic and run-down from the moment that he had woken up that day. He had eaten very little of his breakfast that morning, and barely acknowledged anyone whenever they tried to talk to him.

"How are you feeling, honey? Any better?" she sat beside him with a steaming mug in her hands.

"Not really." He mumbled.

"Here, drink this." She held the cup out to him. "It should make you feel better."

"Coffee?" he looked at her incredulously.

"It's not coffee." She told him. "It's herbal tea with ginger. It's supposed to help with nausea."

"All right." Chandler slowly sat up and took the mug into his hands and took a small sip. "You don't have to stay with me. You can go join the others down there."

"I'd rather stay here with you."

"Mon-"

"Chandler, stop. I'm staying here with you, end of discussion."

"Fine." Chandler took another drink as they continued to sit next to each other, not saying anything.

A little while later, Phoebe came up onto the porch and saw Chandler almost asleep as Monica lay against him. Chandler opened his eyes fully as Monica sat up to greet Phoebe.

"Hey," Monica smiled at her.

"Hey, Pheebs." Chandler mumbled. "What's up?"

"Shift change." Phoebe announced.

"What?" Monica looked at her in confusion.

"We all took a vote down on the beach." She told them. "I'm going to take over Chandler watch while you go down and enjoy yourself for awhile."

"I don't need to be watched." Chandler mumbled.

"And I don't want to leave him." Monica stated.

"We all knew that you wouldn't want to leave Chandler by himself. So I volunteered to stay with him."

"Seriously, I don't need a baby-sitter." Chandler stated.

"No, but you should probably go inside to take a nap." Monica looked at him.

"I'll make sure he lays down if you go join everyone down at the beach." Phoebe told her. "This vacation is for you too, you know."

"Go on, Mon." Chandler told her. "Go have some fun."

"All right." Monica stood up and looked at Phoebe. "But you need to come get me if anything happens."

"You know I will." Phoebe told her as they watched her descend the stairs and head towards the beach. "All right, Chandler. Are you tired or not?"

"Yes I'm tired, but I'm not going upstairs. I don't want to have to stare at all that equipment as I'm trying to get to sleep."

"Let's go lay you down on the couch then." Phoebe helped him up off the swing and he slowly walked inside and lay back down on the couch.

A few hours later, everyone else returned to the cabin ready for some supper. They walked inside as they heard some soft laughter and walked in further as they spotted Chandler and Phoebe situated next to each other on the couch. Chandler was covered with another blanket along with the one that was wrapped around him. He had an ear bud in one of his ears as he messed with what looked like an MP3 player.

"Hey." Chandler looked back at them. "How was the beach?"

"Emma is covered in sand." Rachel told him. "I'm going to go spray her down."

"What are you listening to?" Monica sat beside Chandler.

"Phoebe made recordings of all her songs and downloaded them onto this." He told her. "So did you have fun at the beach?"

"Yes, I did." She smiled at him. "I just wish you could've come down, too. I felt a little guilty for having fun while you were stuck up here."

"I wanted you to go." He assured her. "You deserve to have some time for yourself after everything you do for me."

"I know." She rested her head against him. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really, but I know you're going to make me eat anyway." He smiled at her.

"You're right." She told him. "Do you want to try some rice?"

"Sure." He shrugged as everyone went into the kitchen to find something to eat.

"Hey, buddy." Joey came out with a sandwich in his hand. "How is everything?"

"Like it always is." He shrugged. "I'm nauseous and cold."

"Well hopefully all this will be over for you soon."

"I hope." Chandler gave him a small smile.

"All right. Here we go." Monica came out to him with a small bowl of plain rice and a bottle of ginger ale. "Eat up."

Chandler started to eat as everyone else came out to join them as well. Chandler was only able to eat a few bites before his stomach started reacting, so Joey silently helped him up to his bedroom and he slowly lay down. Joey walked out of the room as Monica came in and sat beside Chandler on the bed.

"Can you please let me suffer in silence?" he mumbled.

"Fine. But you're not going to suffer alone." She told him as she sat with him as the feeling got more intense as the minutes dragged by.

Chandler eventually drifted off to sleep after the horrible feeling had gone away. Monica silently got off the bed and slipped out of the room to give the others an update. Rachel had just put Emma down for the night and was passing by the open door to the room that Monica and Chandler were using. She stopped suddenly when she heard a noise coming from the room and quietly walked into the room.

"Chandler?" she saw him trying to sit up."Would you like some help?"

"Where's Monica?" he looked at her.

"I'm sure she'll be right back." She assured him. "Are you feeling sick?"

"Yeah." He told her as she slowly got him in an upright position.

"I'll go get her ok?" she placed the trash can in front of him before rushing out of the room and downstairs.

Monica rushed in a few minutes later followed by Joey, who wanted to make sure that his best friend was all right. Chandler was bent over the trash can as he emptied out his stomach. Monica sat beside him as she rubbed his back. He looked over at her and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Do you think you're done?" she asked him once he sat up.

"For now, I think." He said softly.

"I'll get that." Joey took the trash can and disappeared into the bathroom.

"Joey, bring the thermometer when you come back." Monica called as she helped Chandler to slowly lay back on the bed.

"Mon," Chandler started.

"It's ok. I'm right here."

"Why am I feeling like this? I didn't even have a treatment today."

"Dr. Brown said that the more you have the treatment, the more intense the side effects will be."

"I found it." Joey came out of the bathroom and handed the thermometer to Monica.

"Ok, honey-"

"I know the drill," Chandler cut her off as he opened his mouth.

Joey stood off to the side and watched as Monica counted down the minutes until she could check the thermometer. He knew everyone was stationed at the bottom of the stairs waiting for an update on Chandler, but he wanted to wait to go back down until he knew that Chandler would be ok.

"It's normal," Monica took the thermometer out of his mouth. "Do you need anything, honey?"

"My throat hurts." He mumbled. "Are there any more popsicles?"

"There should be."

"I'll go get you one, buddy." Joey started out of the room.

"Bring him a ginger ale too." Monica called after him as he started down the stairs.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Joey was met by the others looking anxious to know how Chandler was doing.

"How is he?" Rachel asked. "Is he ok?"

"He's fine." He told them all. "His temperature is normal, but he's nauseous. He's just having a bad night."

Joey grabbed a bottle of ginger ale from the refrigerator and a popsicle from the freezer and headed back upstairs. Monica was covering Chandler with another blanket as he settled back against the pillows.

"I got them." Joey announced as he walked towards the bed.

Chandler took the popsicle from him and Monica placed the ginger ale on the side table. Chandler started sucking on the popsicle as Monica started fussing over him again.

"I'm fine now." Chandler told them.

"I'll go back down and join the others then." Joey walked out of the room.

"You can go join them if you want." Chandler looked at Monica.

"I'm staying up here with you." She told him.

"Monica, I'm fine now."

"That's good, but I'm still staying up here with you."

"Mon-" he sighed.

"Chandler, no arguments." She stated and he nodded. "But I'm going to take a shower real quick ok?"

"Take your time." Chandler finished the popsicle and lay back down.

By the time Monica walked out of the bathroom after her shower, Chandler was sound asleep. She quietly closed the bedroom door and climbed into bed next to him. He shifted his position a little and she snuggled closer to him.

"Thank you." She heard him mumble sleepily.

"For what?" she glanced up at him as she saw his eyes open to tiny slits.

"For everything that you do for me." He told her. "Just thank you."

"No thanks needed." She smiled as she rested her head on his chest. "I do all of it because I want to."

"I know."

"But you're welcome." She told him as they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Everyone was up early one morning and trying to help Monica make them all a big breakfast. Today was their last day at the cabin, so they wanted to cram as many good things in as they could. Chandler was still sleeping and Monica told them all not to wake him up because he needed his rest.

When she had awoken that morning, she looked over to Chandler's side of the bed and saw that he had kicked off all the blankets during the night. He told her that he had gotten hot in the middle of the night. She told him to get a little bit more sleep if he needed it and she'd come get him after she got breakfast ready for all of them.

"Ok. Everything is just about ready." Monica told them as she started to bring everything out to the table. "I'll go see if Chandler is awake yet."

"I'll go get him." Ross told her as he started to climb the stairs.

He walked into the room that Chandler and Monica were using expecting to see Chandler still sleeping on the bed, but he discovered that the bed was empty. He heard the bathroom door open behind him and he turned and saw Chandler coming out of the bathroom, fresh from a shower, in just a pair of jeans. Ross was shocked to see how skinny he had gotten in just the past week.

"Hey." Chandler spotted him. "Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Just about." Ross told him.

"I know." Chandler saw him staring at him. "I look ghastly, don't I?"

"It's not that bad."

"I know you're lying." Chandler smirked at him. "I'll meet you all downstairs in a minute. I just need to finish getting dressed."

"Ok." he walked out and went back downstairs as he saw everyone starting to sit down at the table.

"Is he awake?" Monica looked back at him as he joined them all.

"Yeah. He just got done taking a shower. He'll be down in a little bit."

"How'd he look?"

"Good. A lot better than he has since we got here."

"Maybe he'll have a good day then."

"Morning," Chandler slowly came downstairs as they finished setting everything out on the table. "Everything looks great."

"I hope you're hungry." Monica smiled at him. "We made a lot."

"I'm actually starving." he told her as he sat at the table beside Joey and the food was passed all around.

"Hey. Didn't you make rolls?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh. I guess I forgot them in the kitchen." Monica told her as she started out of her chair to go get them.

"I'll go get them. You stay put." Chandler got up from the table and made his way into the kitchen as the others exchanged looks.

"He does look a lot better today." Rachel said. "More alert."

"One of the rare days." Monica said.

"So what should we do on our last day here?" Phoebe asked. "Other than going to the beach again."

"I'm not sure." Ross stopped when they all heard a noise from the kitchen.

Chandler walked into the kitchen and spotted the basket of rolls on the counter as he started to get light-headed. He sighed as he realized this wasn't going to be a good day for him after all. His vision got blurry and he tried to grab a hold of the counter to stop from falling.

Everyone looked towards the kitchen as they heard a loud crash. Monica was the first one to get up from the table and rushed into the kitchen as the others followed.

"Chandler," Monica spotted him sprawled out on the floor not moving, and rushed to him. "Oh my god. He's not breathing."

"Watch out." Mike pushed his way forward to where Chandler was. "I know CPR."

"Monica, do you know the address here?" Joey asked her as he held his cell phone to his ear. "I have 911 on the phone."

Monica took the phone from him and talked to the 911operator as Ross helped Mike perform CPR on Chandler.

"We got a pulse." Mike looked back at them all. "It's very weak, but he is breathing."

"I can hear the sirens." Rachel said.

"I'll go and flag them down." Joey rushed outside and returned a few moments later with the EMTs.

"I understand that the victim has ALL." one of them said.

"Yes." Monica cried as they took the gurney to where they were all crowded around Chandler laying motionless on the ground.

"Let us work, please." They opened their medical bags and started taking Chandler's stats.

"He stopped breathing for a little bit, but we got him breathing again." Ross told them. "His pulse is very weak."

They all watched as the EMTs placed an oxygen mask over Chandler's mouth, placed a blood pressure cuff on his arm, and transferred him to the gurney. Monica followed them outside as they pushed Chandler out and climbed in behind them into the ambulance.

* * *

One of the EMTs had called ahead to the hospital and Dr. Brown met them all at the entrance to the ER. Chandler was starting to come to as the doctor shone a penlight in his eyes.

"Chandler? Are you with us?" Dr. Brown led the EMTs into an empty exam room. "What was that?" Dr. Brown pulled the oxygen mask off his mouth as Chandler mumbled something incoherently.

"Monica," he mumbled softly.

"Your wife is right outside. She's very worried about you."

"Get her. Please." Dr. Brown motioned for one of the nurses to let her into the room and she rushed to Chandler's bedside.

"Chandler," she took his hand. "You really scared us back there."

"Sorry." He said softly.

"It's ok." She smiled down at him.

"All right. I'm going to take you down for some tests." Dr. Brown told them. "So that we know what exactly caused this."

"Monica's coming, too." Chandler stated.

"Your wife can come with us." Dr. Brown assured them.

"I'm right here." Monica told Chandler as they started out of the room.

* * *

Everyone else showed up at the ER and immediately rushed to the nurse's station. Once the nurse figured out who they were asking about, she told them that Chandler was undergoing tests. She couldn't tell them anything else, so they took to pacing the waiting area until Monica could come and give them some news.

"There she is," Joey saw her down the hall talking to Chandler's doctor.

She nodded as the doctor talked to her and they could tell that she was trying not to break down. Dr. Brown patted her on the shoulder and walked away as she spotted them all down the hall. She was really close to hysterics as she walked towards them. Phoebe and Rachel rushed to her and held her as they led her to sit down in one of the nearby chairs.

"What's going on, Monica?" Joey asked her. "How's Chandler doing?"

"He's not responding to the new treatment." She told them softly.

"So what does that mean?" Ross asked. "What are you going to do?"

"They're going to start him on an even stronger treatment." She sighed. "But Dr. Brown said that his only hope right now is a bone marrow transplant. So-"

"Say no more." Ross told her. "We'll all get tested. Just tell us when."

"Dr. Brown will tell us."

"He'll be ok." Phoebe tried to convince Monica as well as everyone else.

"Chandler is strong. He'll keep fighting." Rachel told her.

"I should call his parents." Monica started to stand up.

"I already did." Ross told her. "I called them on the way here. I actually got a hold of both of them. They're on their way here right now. I also called mom and dad. They're coming down, too. I figured that you would need a lot of support."

"Thank you." Monica said softly.

"Mrs. Bing," they all saw Dr. Brown approach them.

"How's Chandler?' they all stood up.

"We got Chandler settled into a room now." He told them.

"So we can see him then?"

"Not for too long right now. He does need as much rest as possible. He's still wearing the oxygen mask because his breathing is starting to become labored. He needs to keep it on as much as possible."

"When can we get tested to see if we're a match for Chandler?" Joey asked. "Can we do it today?"

"Of course. I'll let the lab know. The more people that get tested, the better the chance that we'll find a match for Chandler."

"Can we please see him now?" Monica asked impatiently.

"Come with me." They followed Dr. Brown down the hall and into the elevator.

They stepped out onto the Oncology floor and Dr. Brown led them into a room where Chandler lay back on the bed. A nurse was checking over his vitals as he lay motionless in the bed.

Chandler turned his head as he spotted them walking into the room and smiled at them. Monica rushed to the bedside and took his hand in both of hers and he squeezed her hand back.

"How are you feeling?" Monica asked him.

"Tired." he took the oxygen mask off. "Dr. Brown already told me what was going on. I'm not going to give up, so I don't want you to worry."

"Don't you worry about that right now." She told him. "We're all going to go get tested as soon as Dr. Brown sets everything up."

"I'm getting tired." Chandler mumbled. "The nurse just gave me some medication, and it's making me sleepy."

"What'd they give you?"

"We gave him something to keep his immune system strong enough until we can find a bone marrow match." Dr. Brown told them. "It'll only work for so long so we need to find a match as soon as possible. Unfortunately, when we start him on the new chemo regimen and it interacts with this medication it'll make him very sick."

"How sick is very sick?"

"It'll probably make him feel worse than he did when he had the infection."

"So how long until he starts to feel the effects of it?" Rachel asked.

"Probably by tonight sometime."

"That's what I have to look forward to." Chandler mumbled as Monica placed the mask back over his mouth when she heard him starting to struggle to breathe.

"I'll come back in a little bit to see how you're doing." Dr. Brown started to leave with the nurse. "Just try to rest, Mr. Bing."

"Maybe you should try to sleep, honey." Monica told him.

"Will you stay with me?" he took the mask off long enough to ask her.

"Of course I will." she pulled one of the chairs up to the bed and sat down.

"We'll go and let you rest." Ross told him.

"But we'll come back soon." Joey assured him.

"Feel better, Chandler." Phoebe told him as she followed the others out of his room.

"Close your eyes, and try to sleep." Monica took Chandler's hand. "I'll be here when you wake up again."

Chandler nodded as he closed his eyes and his breathing evened out and he drifted off. Monica wiped away some stray tears that managed to escape as she watched Chandler sleep restlessly. She didn't know how much more of this she could handle. How much more would they have to go through? Would they have happier times in the future? She carefully lay down on the bed beside Chandler and held him as she clung to all the wonderful memories she had.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? At this point in the story, I'm not sure what Chandler's fate will be. I'm not sure if it will be the same as in the original, or if I want to go the other way. Leave me some input in your reviews. PLZ R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: **Another update for all of you. So everyone who left reviews for the last chapter don't want me to kill off Chandler. I still haven't decided yet, but I don't want to kill him off either. I guess you'll just have to see by reading the rest of this story. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 11**

Everyone kept taking turns going into Chandler's room to see if they could do anything for either of them. Chandler was incoherent every time because of the mask that he was forced to keep over his mouth at all times; and because of the medication that he was given. Monica stayed by his side at all times; she refused to leave his side for even a moment.

Monica silently walked out of Chandler's room, leaving him with Dr. Brown and the nurse as they prepared his new treatment. She found everyone down the hall waiting for her to come out to them.

"How's he doing, Mon?" Rachel stood up as she reached them.

"They're getting ready to start his new treatment." She informed them. "I need to get back in there soon."

"Do you need us to do anything?" Ross asked her.

"All of our things are still at the cabin-"

"We're on it." Joey told her.

"Here's some things we could use from the apartment." Monica handed a list to Phoebe. "Just a few comforts from home."

"We'll be back soon." Rachel told her.

"If you guys want to stay out a little longer, that's ok too."

"Monica-" Joey looked at her.

"Chandler doesn't want you guys near his room while he's going through this new treatment." She informed of them all. "He didn't want me there either, but I'm giving him no choice."

"But he can't just-" Ross started.

"Ross, I am barely holding on just to stay strong enough for Chandler. I'm close to having a breakdown; Chandler's not that far behind. If this is what Chandler wants, then I'm going to do this for him ok?"

"Right, sorry." He hugged his sister. "We'll be back in a little bit."

"Everything will be ok." Joey told her as they all walked towards the exit and Monica walked back to Chandler's room.

"We just got him started." Dr. Brown informed her. "Chances are that it will hit him all of a sudden. We've also upped his anti-nausea medication."

"Thank you." Monica carefully sat beside Chandler on the bed and took his hand.

"I'll be back in a little bit to see how you're doing Chandler." Dr. Brown told him and he nodded. "But if anything happens, don't hesitate to call the nurse."

"We will." Monica assured him as he and the nurse left the room.

"What's everyone doing?" Chandler took the mask off his face.

"I sent them on a couple errands to keep them busy for a while." She told him.

"Do you know if my parents are on their way yet?"

"Ross called them when everything happened. They're both on their way here."

"Ok." He started coughing and Monica placed the mask back over his mouth. "You need to keep that on as much as possible."

He nodded as he turned his head to the side and she lay down beside him. She rested her head against his and talked softly as he tried to get some sleep. They hadn't been laying there long when there was a light knock on the door and Monica saw her parents standing in the hall.

"I'll be right outside, honey." She told Chandler and he nodded as she got up off the bed and joined her parents in the hall.

"Hey, honey." Jack hugged her tightly. "How are you guys holding up?"

"We're hanging in there." She told them. "They just started him on the new treatment a little bit ago."

"Where's your brother and your friends?"

"I sent them away on some errands. Chandler didn't want them to see him like he is now." Monica glanced into the room and saw Chandler trying to reach for the call button. "I need to get back in there. Please stay out here. Keep an eye out for Chandler's parents. They should be getting here soon."

"Anything you need," Judy told her. "We'll be in the family waiting room down the hall if you need anything."

"Thank you." Monica told them as she went back into Chandler's room. "Honey, what's going on?"

"I couldn't get your attention." He took the mask off. "I was just going to call the nurse in."

"Well, I'm here now." She sat beside him on the bed. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's really wrong. I just-"

"I'm here now." She assured him. "I'll stay with you."

"How do you do that?" he looked at her.

"Do what?"

"Know what I'm thinking before I think it."

"We're just connected." She told him. "Now put that mask back on."

"Fine." He placed it back over his mouth and she lay down beside him.

* * *

Monica spent the rest of that day and all through the night at the hospital with Chandler while the others went back to their places after dropping off the items that Monica requested. The nurse gave her a blanket and a pillow and she slept on the small couch that was in Chandler's room.

Two AM…

Monica slowly awoke as she heard a faint noise. She slowly sat up and focused as she saw Chandler tossing and turning on the bed. She quickly went to him and held him against her.

"I take it that all the medication is taking effect." she looked at him.

"I've never felt like this." he moaned. "I just feel so horrible."

"The nurse should be in here soon." she pressed the call button and they only had to wait a few minutes before the night nurse came in with a plastic bin.

"I see its taking effect." she placed the bin on the moving table by Chandler's bed.

"You think?" Chandler mumbled.

"Chandler,"

"It's all right. I've dealt with worse moodiness than this." The nurse told her. "But unfortunately, this isn't the worst that you're going to feel. It's going to get even worse for you."

"Lucky me." Chandler mumbled.

"Just try to stay relaxed." the nurse told them. "I'll come check on you again in a couple hours, Mr. Bing."

The nurse left them alone and Monica pushed Chandler lay down beside her on the hospital bed and held him. He kept moaning and tossing and turning for the next several hours until almost seven when he finally fell back asleep. But he awoke again not even an hour later and threw up in the plastic bin that Monica held in front of him. Dr. Brown came in to check on him as soon as he got to the hospital and saw him still throwing up with his head over the plastic bin.

"How long has he been at this?" he looked at Monica as Chandler finally pushed the basin away from him and lay back on the bed as he took some deep breaths.

"It hasn't been consecutive." Monica told him. "He started feeling the effects around two. He didn't start that until an hour ago."

"Has he been able to keep anything down?"

"Not really."

"I think we're going to have to think about putting in a feeding tube." Dr. Brown scribbled something in Chandler's chart. "We don't need him getting dehydrated."

"You want to feed him through a tube?"

"It would be more of a necessity."

"I don't care." Chandler said softly. "I just want to feel better."

"I'm going to give you a chance to be able to get over this on your own. If it's not any better by this afternoon, then we'll discuss this further." Dr. Brown told them.

"All right." Monica sighed.

"Just try to relax, Mr. Bing. And still try to keep that mask on as much as you can."

"Ok." Chandler replaced the mask as he left the room.

* * *

A few hours later, all their friends were positioned around the room. They were all silent as they watched Chandler continue to moan as he lay on the bed. Chandler tried to kick them out when they all arrived, but Monica firmly told him that they were staying.

"Oh, god." Chandler took off the mask abruptly.

"You need to keep that mask on." Monica told him firmly.

"Basin," he managed to gasp out.

Just that one word sent everyone in the room into action; Joey and Ross rolled Chandler onto his right side because he was too weak to do it himself, Phoebe held the basin under him, Monica rubbed his back, and Rachel stood near the door in case she had to rush out to get the doctor.

"False alarm." Chandler replaced the mask and he rolled back over onto his back.

"You're going to be fine, honey." Monica told him.

Chandler finally managed to fall back asleep, but he was still so restless. The nurse came in to inform them that the lab was ready to get them all tested to see if any of them were matches for Chandler. Monica stayed with Chandler because she didn't want him to wake up alone.

There was a light knock on the door and Monica looked up to see Rachel coming into the room. She glanced at Chandler sound asleep and smiled at Monica.

"Hey." Rachel whispered. "His parents are here. They're getting tested now if you wanted to join them. I can stay with Chandler until you get back."

"Ok." Monica got out of the chair. "I'll be back, honey."

"Ok." he mumbled.

"How's he doing now?" Rachel walked her out of the room.

"He's just really worn down." she sighed. "Just be prepared for anything. The nurse said he could get much worse."

"We'll be fine." Rachel assured her as she went back into Chandler's room.

Chandler opened his eyes when he heard the door open again and managed to smile at Rachel as she sat beside the bed.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked him.

"I can't keep any food down." He said softly. "Dr. Brown said if I can't, then they're going to put in a feeding tube."

"You'll be fine. It'll be better for you in the long run."

"I know."

"Chandler?" the door opened and two more people came in.

"Mom? Dad?" he slowly sat up.

"We just got in a little bit ago." Nora told him. "We just got done getting tested."

"How are you feeling, son?" Charles asked him.

"Why does everyone ask me that as soon as they walk into the room?" he grumbled and Rachel squeezed his arm.

"Because sometimes we don't think you're being truthful with us even when you say that you're fine."

"Because none of you know what I'm going through. Except maybe Monica."

"You need to calm down now." Rachel put the oxygen mask back over his mouth again. "The doctor said you need to relax, and getting upset isn't going to help you."

"Fine." Chandler grumbled as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Try not to take any offense to that." Rachel looked at his parents. "All the medication the doctor gave him is making him very irritable. It has nothing to do with you."

"It probably did a little bit." Nora sighed. "We haven't been around much since he was diagnosed. He said he understood, but I don't think he does."

"I'm surprised it took him this long to say something." Charles said.

"This may be none of my business, but I think you all need to talk to each other. I may barely know either of you, but Chandler's one of my friends. I can always see the hurt in his eyes whenever he talks about you guys."

Nora and Charles exchanged glances as they really thought about what their son's friend had told them.

* * *

Monica sat beside Chandler's bed as she squeezed his hand tightly. His eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled at him.

"Hey," she kissed his cheek. "How are you handling all the medication?"

"I'm all right." he sighed as he took off the mask. "But I feel horrible."

"Is it your stomach again or something else?"

"No. It's nothing like that. I snapped at my parents when they were in here earlier."

"It's ok. I'm sure they understand."

"I don't think they do."

"It's ok, honey."

"I can't believe I did that, though."

"So talk to them when they come back. You need to. It's time for all of you to get everything out in the open."  
"Ok." he said softly. "Oh god, here it comes again."

* * *

Joey and Phoebe knocked on Chandler's door later that night and slowly walked into the room. They saw Monica holding a paper cup up to Chandler's mouth trying to urge him to drink it.

"Come on. You need to drink something." She urged him.

"I don't want it." Chandler shook his head.

"Just a small drink."

"No." he pushed it away from him.

"You're getting very dehydrated."

"Mon, I love you. I don't want to yell at you, but if you don't stop I will. So please just leave me alone."

"I love you too, but I won't stop until you take a drink. You should know that about me by now. So take a drink so that you stay hydrated."

"Ok, fine." he finally surrendered to her and took a small drink before lying back down on the bed again.

"Should we come back?" Phoebe asked, and Chandler turned to see her and Joey standing in the doorway.

"It won't make a difference." Chandler mumbled. "I'm just going to get worse."

"So you're not feeling any better then?" Joey went to him.

"Not really."

"I'm sure it'll wear off in awhile." Monica told them.

"Where are my parents?" Chandler asked.

"In the waiting room." Phoebe told him. "They're talking to Monica's parents. Ross and Rachel are with them."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea to have mom and dad so close to Chandler's parents." Monica said. "Especially my dad."

"I'm actually starting to feel a little better." Chandler sat up as he looked at Monica. "Can you go get my parents? I need to talk to them. Privately."

"Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"I need to do this now." He told her.

"All right. I'll go get them." Monica started out of the room.

* * *

Chandler was actually able to sit up in bed as he talked to Joey and Phoebe, who remained in his room after Monica left. There was a knock at the door and he watched as his parents slowly walked in and he smiled at them. Joey and Phoebe took their cue, and got up from where they were sitting beside the bed as they walked towards the door.

"We'll be in the waiting room with Monica." Phoebe told them as they walked out.

"Monica said you needed to talk to us." Nora said as they walked closer to the bed.

"Yeah." Chandler said softly as he sat up more. "About what happened earlier-"

"You don't need to say anything, son." Charles told him. "We know-"

"You don't know anything." Chandler sat up even more. "We need to talk. I mean really talk; about everything."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"The truth is that I'm mad at you guys. And I'm not talking about anything that happened when I was little. I'm over all that; almost." he took a deep breath. "Why haven't you guys visited me more since I was diagnosed? Do you even realize that I might not make it through this? Are you at all upset about that fact?"

"Of course we're upset about that." Charles started. "It's just-"

"Just what?"

"I'm not sure about your father," Nora spoke up. "But I was afraid. Of watching you slowly slip away. I didn't want to watch you die."

"That's what Monica said."

"She is a smart one."

"What were you going to say, dad?" Chandler looked at him.

"That week I spent with you-watching you go through everything first hand, I realized how much I missed when you were younger. Not that it's something a parent looks forward to, but I was never there when you were sick as a child. I'm here now, but it's different. There is a chance that you might not make it, and I now realize how much of your childhood that I actually did miss."

"I think this is the most we've talked at one time." Chandler commented wryly.

"We're sorry that we haven't been here more to help you through this, but I didn't think that you would want us to see you like that." Charles started again. "I know it's not an excuse, but we promise to be here from now on. And once you're better, we will visit more often."

"I'm going to hold you to that." he smiled slightly as he started coughing.

"Are you ok?" Nora asked him. "Here's the mask, put it on."

"No." Chandler shook his head as he gestured to the side table. "Get that basin."

Charles snatched it off the table and held it before Chandler. He bent over it and started heaving as Nora stood on his other side to try to comfort him.

"Please go get Monica." Chandler managed to gasp before starting to heave again.

"Of course." Charles rushed out as Nora stayed with him and attempted to make him feel better.

"Chandler, honey?" Monica came in a few moments later with Charles. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"It's getting worse." he said softly as he looked up at her.

"It's going to be ok." She sat beside him on the bed and held him as both his parents silently slipped out of the room. "You have to go through the pain to get well again."

"I know." he rested his head against her shoulder as she rubbed his forehead. "You have really helped me through this whole thing."

"What else would I be doing?" she asked him softly.

Monica continued to hold Chandler against her as she talked quietly to him. She felt his whole body relax and looked down as she realized that he had fallen asleep. She carefully lay him down and covered him with the blankets as she kissed the top of his head.

"Monica?" his eyes opened and he looked at her. "Stay with me?"

"You don't even have to ask." She smiled at him as she lay down beside him. "Try to get some sleep."

Chandler's eyes closed again and Monica held Chandler in her arms as she felt comforted by the fact that she could still hear his heartbeat. It sounded so strong to her; she fell asleep listening to that wonderful sound with a small smile on her face.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? The next chapter will decided Chandler's fate. Stay tuned. PLZ R&R!


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: **I know that it's been several weeks since I updated this story, but it's been a little hectic. I finished up my current course of study, but I'm trying to decide if I want to enroll in another course. The biggest news though is that I'm the proud aunt of a new baby nephew. My sister finally got her boy after having three girls. Anyway, onto the story! PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 12**

Monica slowly sat up on the small couch in Chandler's room as she heard a light knock on the door. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was a couple hours before visiting hours started. She watched as the door slowly opened and Carol silently walked in.

"Hey," she whispered as she glanced at Chandler on the bed. "How's he doing?"

"Not that great." Monica sighed. "He still can't keep anything down. The doctor wants to put in a feeding tube today."

"I just got tested." Carol told her. "Susan is going to come down later with Ben."

"I'm not sure if Chandler will want Ben to see him like he is now."

"That's what Ross told me when he called last night." Carol sighed. "Chandler was always so stubborn."

"He still is."

"Anyway, Ben overheard the phone conversation I had with Ross. He said he wanted to get tested, too. We're thinking about it. And he told us that he doesn't care what Uncle Chandler looks like. He just wants to see him."

"Chandler misses him, I know." Monica smiled.

"So how is he doing?" Carol glanced at the bed again.

"He had a really bad night." Monica sighed. "He had another treatment yesterday and he had a strong reaction. He just fell asleep not even a half hour ago."

"I think he'll be all right." Carol assured her. "He's strong; no matter what he thinks or the fact that everyone likes to rib him about being so weak."

Carol sat with Monica for the next hour as they talked about things other than Chandler and his treatments. Monica looked up as the door opened and smiled at a familiar face.

"Nurse Wendy," she smiled. "I thought you only worked with the outpatient ward."

"I normally do, but they needed someone to fill in here today. When I saw your husband's name on the board, I had to come see how he's doing. And it looks like it's been a little rough on the both of you."

"Just a little."

"Hey," they heard a soft voice and looked over to see Chandler's eyes slowly opening. "Carol?"

"Hey," she smiled at him. "How are you?"

"Not great," he mumbled and jumped as he felt the cold water from the wash cloth that Monica was dabbing at his forehead.

"Hey, there." Nurse Wendy approached the bed. "Remember me?"

"Hey," Chandler managed a smile for her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on my favorite patient." She smiled at him.

"Good morning," the door opened again and Dr. Brown came in. "How's the patient? Are you feeling any better Chandler?"

"Not at all." Chandler mumbled and Monica sighed.

"You said you would be putting in the feeding tube today sometime?" Monica looked at the doctor.

"I'd like to give Chandler a chance to try to eat something." Dr. Brown placed a small container of jell-o on the moving table in front of Chandler. "What do you say? Do you want to try eating this?"

"I don't think I can." Chandler moaned. "Just the thought of any kind of food-"

"Just try, honey." Monica told him. "For me?"

"Ok." He closed his eyes as the bed was slowly raised in an upright position.

He opened his eyes again and saw Monica pulling the top off the jell-o and offering him the plastic spoon. He slowly scooped a small amount on the spoon and sucked the gooey substance into his mouth.

"How is it?" Monica asked as Carol slipped out of the room.

"It's ok." His hand started to shake as he took a few more bites.

"So far, so good." Wendy said softly.

"I'm gonna be sick." Chandler tried to shove the jell-o away.

"Here we go." Monica held the basin in front of Chandler as he gagged on the gooey substance that he had just ate.

"I'm going to call down and let them know that we'll be down soon for the procedure." Dr. Brown told them.

"You'll feel better soon, Chandler." Nurse Wendy assured him.

* * *

A few hours later, the others showed up after visiting hours officially started. They walked into Chandler's room and saw him out of it as the doctor was explaining something to Monica.

"Once he has it in for a while and he gets used to it, he'll have a little bit more energy." Dr. Brown told her and she nodded as she glanced at Chandler.

"Hey." Joey spoke up. "What's going on?"

"He just got the feeding tube put in." Monica told them.

"That's serious, isn't it?" Joey asked.

"It's mostly a precaution, but he hasn't been able to keep anything down since he got here." Monica explained as she turned back to the doctor. "So how does this work exactly?"

"It's really simple," Dr. Brown told her.

They all watched as Dr. Brown lowered the blanket covering Chandler and lifted his hospital gown up a little as they saw the feeding tube sticking out of his abdomen. Dr. Brown held the tube up right as the nurse in the room opened a small can of what looked like evaporated milk.

"This is an iron supplement." Dr. Brown told them. "We also use Ensure. Basically, you fill up to the top line and wait for it to empty out before pouring the rest in. You want to use the whole can during one feeding."

"Ok." Monica watched Chandler sleep through it all with the anesthesia still in his system. "And that's it?"

"Basically."

"But can he still try to eat normal food?" Monica looked at Dr. Brown.

"He can, but that usually doesn't happen with patients on feeding tubes. They'll usually ask for water or ice chips for the most part."

"Ok. Thank you."

"I'll come back in a few hours to see how he's doing." Dr. Brown left with the nurse and they all found seats around the room.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Ross sat with Monica on the small couch.

"Not really. He was up all night from the treatment." She sighed. "He only slept for maybe an hour before Dr. Brown got here."

"Well hopefully the feeding tube will help him." Rachel told her.

"Carol stopped by this morning," Monica looked at her brother. "Ben wants to come see Chandler."

"She called me last night." Ross sighed. "I don't know if he should see Chandler like he is now."

"Well, I don't think Chandler wants him to see him like he is now." Monica said.

"I know," Ross sighed as they all continued to watch Chandler sleep off the anesthesia.

* * *

Two days later….

Chandler was doing much better since he had the feeding tube put in. He still slept for long periods of time, but he had a little bit more energy now that he had more food intake and he was able to keep it down. His breathing problems seemed to go away as well, so they didn't have him wearing the mask as often.

Chandler awoke when he heard his door open and close slowly; someone was obviously trying not to disturb him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Phoebe coming towards the bed where he lay and Rachel approaching the couch where Monica was sleeping.

"Don't wake her." Chandler stated, startling the both of them.

"What?" Rachel turned around to look at him.

"Let her sleep." Chandler adjusted the bed so he was sitting up more. "She hasn't slept since I got here."

"We'll let her have a few more minutes." Phoebe told him as they both sat in the chairs near his bed. "So how are you doing today?"

"I'm all right." He rubbed his eyes. "Have any of the results come back yet?"

"Not yet." Rachel told him and he sighed. "You don't need to worry. We've all been tested and the doctor put you at the top of the national registry. They will find a match for you."

"I'm trying to stay positive, I really am. I just-it's hard, you know? Especially with everything else that's going on."

"We know." Phoebe started to rub his arm. "Just focus on your positive thinking. You'll both get through this. You'll both come out of this stronger than ever."

"Thanks, Pheebs." Chandler smiled as they all heard a noise and looked over and saw Monica slowly sitting up on the couch.

"Hey." She spotted them all. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Not long." Rachel told her. "Chandler told us not to wake you."

"Why not?" she went to the bed and sat next to Chandler.

"I'm not the only one who needs their sleep." He told her.

"All that matters is that you're getting sleep now." She told him.

"Morning," the door opened and a nurse came in pushing a cart. "How are we doing this morning?"

"A little better." Chandler told her. "I'm still tired, but not as much as I was."

"Why don't you go ahead and get started on this," she placed the can on the bedside table. "And I'll check all your bags."

"All right." Chandler lifted up the bottom of his hospital gown as Monica opened up the can.

"We'll go." Phoebe told them.

"I think Ross was going to bring Ben by in a little bit." Rachel told them as they left the room.

"He is?" Chandler looked at Monica as she opened the top of the feeding tube and started to pour the liquid into it.

"Yes." She stated. "Ben wants to see you very badly. Now that you're not so run-down, I think he should come visit you."

"I have missed seeing him." Chandler confessed. "I just don't want him to see me like this."

"You're better now." She assured him. "Besides, Ben doesn't get scared easily. I know that's what you're afraid of."

"I am a little."

"All right. You're all set." The nurse told them. "I'll come back in a little bit to check on you again."

"Thank you." Monica told her as she left the room and turned back to Chandler. "I know that you think you're going to scare Ben if he sees you how you are now, but he'll be fine."

"You really think so?"

"I'm sure of it." She smiled. "Carol's kind of getting aggravated because he asks to come see you at least ten times a day. So you'd really be helping out Carol and Susan as well."

"Ok. I'll let him come see me, but you have to warn him about what he'll see when he comes here."

"I will." She smiled as she watched Chandler adjust his hospital gown after she finished emptying the can.

* * *

Chandler and Monica were sitting on the bed trying to watch some TV when the door opened and Dr. Brown came into them.

"You're looking a lot better today, Chandler." He told him.

"I feel a lot better." Chandler agreed.

"So everything looks really good now." Dr. Brown looked through Chandler's chart. "Do either of you have any questions or concerns right now?"

"I can't think of any right now." Monica told him.

"Have any of the results come back yet?" Chandler asked.

"Not yet." Dr. Brown told them as Monica took Chandler's hand. "There's been a slight delay in the lab, but they assured me that we should know if any of your family or friends is a match soon."

"All right." Chandler sighed.

"If there's nothing else-"

"Can I get out of this bed for a little bit?" Chandler asked. "Maybe sit in one of the chairs for awhile?"

"I think that will be ok."

"Thank you." Chandler started to climb off the bed.

Chandler slowly got off the bed and both Monica and the doctor helped him walk the few steps to the nearby chair. Monica placed a pillow behind him and Dr. Brown adjusted the IV port. Monica got the blanket from the bed and covered his lap and he adjusted himself as he got comfortable.

"Are you ok?" Monica asked him.

"I'm fine." Chandler assured her.

"If you get too uncomfortable, I want you to move back to the bed." Dr. Brown told him.

"All right." Chandler sighed.

"Ok. I have rounds to do, so I'll come back to check on you." Dr. Brown left and Monica settled into the other chair next to Chandler.

"Feel better?" Monica asked him.

"Yes. It's good to be out of that bed." He smiled at her as they saw Ross pass by the door. "Ben must be here to see me."

"I'll go out and talk to him before he comes in." Monica told him and he nodded.

* * *

Monica walked down the hall towards the family waiting room that they had all been using since Chandler arrived. She walked in and saw Ben arguing with Carol and Susan as Ross sighed.

"Hey everyone." Monica greeted them.

"Aunt Monica, can I see Uncle Chandler yet?" Ben asked her.

"Yes, you can." Monica smiled at him. "He wants to see you now that he's not so tired all the time."

"Let's go." Ben started out of the room.

"Hold on a moment." Monica pulled him back and sat with him on one of the couches. "Uncle Chandler wanted me to warn you about what you'll see when you go in to see him."

"What do you mean?" Ben looked at her.

"Well you already know that he's bald." She started. "He's eating through a feeding tube right now, and he gets tired very easily, and he may even get sick while you're in with him."

"Ok, I get it." Ben said impatiently. "Can I go see Uncle Chandler now?"

"All right. Let's go." Monica took his hand and they all walked down the hall and into Chandler's room.

They walked in and saw Chandler sitting up in the chair. He smiled at them all as they entered the room.

"Hey, Ben." Chandler smiled at him as he sat in the chair next to Chandler's.

"Are you feeling better now?" Ben asked.

"A little," Chandler said as Monica joined Ross, Carol, and Susan on the other side of the bed.

"Have any of the results come back yet?" Carol asked.

"Not yet." Monica told her. "We should hear by tonight sometime."

Ben stayed in Chandler's room for more than an hour before Carol and Susan told him that it was time to go. He started to protest a little bit, but Chandler told him to go home because it was almost time for him to get another feeding. Monica situated herself in the chair beside Chandler and started flipping through a magazine as he got involved in a program on TV.

"Monica?" Chandler nudged her since she had drifted off to sleep.

"What's wrong?" she sat up and looked at him.

"Nothing is wrong. But could you help me back into bed? My back is starting to hurt."

"Sure." She got up and helped him walk the short distance back to the bed and helped him get settled again. "Better?"

"Yeah," he sighed as there was a knock on the door and Dr. Brown came into them.

"How are we doing in here?" he asked them.

"A little tired." Chandler told him.

"He just got back into the bed." Monica informed him.

"Well if you can stay awake for a little bit longer, I do have some good news for you both." Dr. Brown smiled at them. "The labs just came back and I'm happy to tell you that we found a match for you, Mr. Bing."

"A-Are you sure?" Chandler asked, trying not to get his hopes up too high.

"I'm absolutely positive." Dr. Brown assured them.

"So who is it?" Monica asked. "Was it someone we know or someone from the national registry?"

"It was actually one of your friends. Mr. Tribbiani came back a match for you."

"Really?" Chandler smiled. "So when can we do the procedure?"

"I understand your anxiousness, Mr. Bing." Dr. Brown told him. "But there are a few things we have to do first. We'll do the procedure first thing in the morning."

"What kinds of things do you have to do beforehand?" Monica asked.

"We'll stop giving you the chemo immediately so you won't feel so sick. You're going to need plenty of rest before the procedure."

"Not a problem." Chandler smiled as he took Monica's hand and squeezed it.

"I'll leave you guys to yourselves." Dr. brown left them some information about the procedure and walked out of the room.

"I'm going to go tell the others." Monica told Chandler.

"Ok." Chandler smiled after her as he started to look through the pamphlets that Dr. Brown had left behind.

A few minutes later, the door opened again as someone came into the room. Chandler looked up and saw Joey slowly coming into the room. He smiled at him as he approached the bed.

"Did Monica tell you the news?" Chandler asked him.

"Yeah, she just told me."

"So are you ok with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Joey sat in the chair closest to the bed.

"Are you really willing to get poked with a needle for me?" Chandler asked him.

"Of course. You know I would do anything for you. You're more than a friend to me. You're my brother. You're family."

"Thanks, man." Chandler smiled. "I just want to apologize for how I've been the last few days. I just don't like you guys seeing me like this. And I don't like getting help from other people."

"Dude, it's fine. If we weren't able to handle it, I don't think any of us would be here right now."

* * *

Everyone else was sitting in the private waiting room with Chandler's and Monica's parents. They all sat up when they saw Monica coming towards the room with a big smile on her face. Joey met her halfway as he returned from the vending machines. They talked for a few moments before he hugged her tightly and took off down the hall towards Chandler's room.

"What's going on?" Ross stood up as she reached the rest of them.

"Is Chandler all right?" Nora asked.

"He's fine. We got some very good news." She told them. "They found a match."

"You mean Joey was a match?"

"Joey was a match." she confirmed for them. "The doctor just told us."

"That's why Joey went into Chandler's room?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah. He wanted to talk with Chandler about it."

"Thank god," Charles sighed.

"This is wonderful news." Rachel hugged Monica tightly. "When are they going to do the procedure?"

"First thing tomorrow morning," Monica informed them. "Joey needs to be here by five am. One of you will have to make sure he gets here on time."

"Thank goodness." Jack held Monica. "Maybe this is almost over for you guys."

Monica walked back to Chandler's room a little while later as she saw Joey slowly walking out of his room. He was trying to be quiet as he carefully shut the door behind him.

"Hey." he smiled as he spotted her there.

"How is he?" she asked him.

"He fell asleep while we were talking." He told her.

"So you guys got to talk? I think you need to."

"We talked." He assured her. "Everything is fine."

"I'm glad." she smiled at him. "I'm going to go in and sit with him."

"I'd better get home and get some sleep if I need to be here early tomorrow morning."

"Rachel's going to make sure you get up on time." she told him. "Thank you for doing this, Joey. You're saving his life."

"Don't you know that I would do anything for you guys?" he smiled at her.

Monica silently went into Chandler's room and saw him sound asleep. She sat in the chair by his bed and took his hand as she stroked up and down his arm. She could feel something clutched in his hand and picked it up. She smiled when she saw that it was a picture of the six of them in Central Perk; they were all perched on the orange couch as they smiled at the camera.

She replaced the picture and leaned back in the chair. She vowed that they would all have happy times like that again. It was a promise that she was going to make sure that she kept.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? As you can see, I've decided to keep Chandler alive. For the time being anyway. PLZ R&R!


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: **Here's the next to last chapter for you guys. Hope you like it. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter 13**

Chandler turned over on his bed and saw that it was still dark out. He reached over for the small digital clock that was on his bedside table and saw that it was only three am. He had two more hours at least until the procedure was to be done. He tried to go back to sleep to get a little bit more sleep, but found that he couldn't.

"Chandler?" Monica slowly sat up from the couch and went to the bed. "Why are you awake already?"

"Can't sleep." He mumbled.

"All right," She sat beside him on the bed. "Tell me what's going on."

"What do you mean?" he turned to look at her.

"Honey, I know you." She looked at him. "I can tell when something is bothering you. And something is definitely bothering you right now."

"Mon, what if this doesn't work?"

"What?"

"What if this transplant doesn't work?" he sighed. "What if we went through all this for nothing? All the tests, procedures-"

"Honey, there's always a chance." She wrapped her arms around him. "Just remember what you promised when you were first diagnosed."

"What was that?"

"That we would both stay positive." She lay down with her head resting on his chest. "Yes there's a chance that this won't work. There's also a chance that this will work and everything will turn out better than it has the last several months. So I think we should focus on the positive outcome."

"I know you're right." He sighed. "I'm just scared is all."

"We're all scared for you." She told him. "But we need to stay positive."

Chandler nodded as she continued to whisper comforting words to him. They both fell back asleep holding onto each other as they thought about what would happen in just a few hours time.

* * *

Joey and Rachel arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes early. Rachel collected the admittance forms from the nurse at the front desk and followed Joey down the hall and into Chandler's room. Joey slowly and quietly opened the door to Chandler's room and saw that everyone else was already there and occupied the room as well. Chandler was wide awake with Monica sitting next to him on the bed as everyone else was gathered around the bed.

"Hey," Chandler smiled at them as they came into the room.

"Wow. You're here early." Monica told them.

"I set Joey's alarm for two hours before we had to be here." Rachel told her.

"Very sly." Chandler stated.

"I just wanted to come see you before we had to go down." Joey went to stand closer to the hospital bed. "I just want you to know that no matter what happens I'm happy to do this for the both of you."

"I know." Chandler said softly. "Thanks, man."

"Hello, everyone." the door opened and Dr. Brown came in. "Are we ready to get this started?"

"Definitely," Chandler sighed.

"Mr. Tribbiani, they're ready for you." Dr. Brown told him. "The nurse will take you down and get you set up."

"Ok. I'll see you guys in a few hours." he told them all as he started to walk out of the room.

"I'll go with him." Rachel gave Chandler a tight hug. "Good luck, sweetie. You're going to be just fine."

"Thanks." he told her as she followed Joey out.

"I'd like everyone except Monica to step out of the room, please." they all filed out as Dr. Brown went to Chandler. "How are you feeling this morning, Chandler?"

"I'm ok. Just a little tired." Chandler told him. "And a lot anxious."

"Well we're almost ready for you." Dr. Brown told them. "I just have a few things I need to ask you."

Everyone waited out in the hall just outside of Chandler's room as the doctor started to prep Chandler for the procedure. Charles and Nora showed up with Jack and Judy as the doctor finished talking with Chandler and Monica. The door to his room finally opened and they started to push Chandler out. Monica came out of the room first as a nurse helped Dr. Brown push Chandler out.

"Chandler," Nora and Charles went to the gurney. "We were hoping to get here before you had to go down."

"You're going to be fine, son." Charles told him.

"I know." Chandler smiled at them.

"I'll be there when you wake up, I promise." Monica leaned down to kiss his forehead. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." he said softly.

"Good luck, man." Ross told him.

"Everything will all work out for you." Phoebe told him. "You'll see."

"Ok. We have to take him down now." Dr. Brown told them.

"Oh, wait." Phoebe stopped them as she took her iPod out of her purse. "Can he listen to this during the transplant?"

"Yes. I'll just have to sterilize it first." Dr. Brown told her.

"Is that the one with all your songs on it?" Chandler looked at Phoebe as she handed it to the doctor.

"I added a few more to it. I also put some love songs on there that have special meanings for you and Monica." She smiled at him. "Your wedding song is the first one on there. You should be in a happy mood when they're doing the transplant."

"Thanks, Pheebs." he said softly as he smiled back at her.

"We really need to get him down to do the transplant." Dr. Brown told them. "I'll come and find you when it's all done."

They all watched as Chandler was pushed down the hall and disappeared around the corner. They all stayed standing there for several minutes as Monica hugged Ross tightly and Jack and Judy came over to them as well. Rachel walked down the hall towards them and Monica went to her.

"They just took Joey down too." she told them.

"This has to work." Monica whispered and Rachel held her tightly. "It just has to."

"Come on. Let's go down to the waiting room." they all walked down the hall to their designated family waiting room and took seats in the various chairs around the room.

They all sat restlessly in the waiting room for the next several hours. Occasionally one of them would get up to use the bathroom or to get something to drink or eat from the vending machine. Monica tried to wait patiently, but she was very anxious to see both Chandler and Joey again. This procedure had to work. They couldn't handle anymore treatments and tests. This just had to work.

They all looked up when they heard the door to the room open and saw Dr. Brown standing there.

"How are they?" Monica jumped up to hear what he had to say.

"We just got Mr. Tribbiani into a recovery room." Dr. Brown told them. "We just finished with the transplant, and the nurses are getting Chandler settled back into his room right now."

"So they're both ok then?" Ross asked.

"They're both doing fine," he assured them. "But we will have to watch them closely to make sure they don't have any reactions to the procedure."

"Can we see them yet?" Phoebe asked.

"Mr. Tribbiani can have visitors, but Chandler can't just yet. The nurses are making sure his room is still sterile. When you go into his room, you're going to have to put on a sterile gown, gloves and a mask. His immune system is still susceptible to illnesses."

"So when will you know when they can both come home?" Ross asked.

"Joey will most likely be able to go home tomorrow if there are no reactions from the procedure." Dr. Brown explained to them. "Chandler will still get sick from time to time. He'll still get nauseous, and he might still get sick. We won't know if the procedure has worked for a few days yet."

"We understand." Monica stood up. "So then can we see Joey now?"

"Of course." he led them all down the hall and into a small room.

Joey was sleeping soundly on the bed as he had an IV taped to the back of his hand. It led to a bag on the pole by the bed; it was slowly dripping a clear liquid into the IV.

"Joey, are you awake?" Rachel asked softly as they all went to the bed.

"Yeah." he said softly as his eyes slowly opened. "How's Chandler doing?"

"We haven't been in to see him yet." Monica told him. "They're still getting him settled back into his room."

"I'm glad I could do this for him." Joey looked over at her.

"If you think about it, you and Chandler are now blood brothers." Phoebe smiled at him. "You're connected to him for life."

"I guess you're right." Joey smiled.

"Mrs. Bing," There was a knock on the door and a nurse came into them. "If you'll come with me, you can see your husband now."

"Ok. Thank you." She started to follow the nurse out of the room as she turned back to Joey. "I'll come back to see you in a little while, Joe."

Monica followed the nurse down the next hall and stopped in front of a cabinet of linens. She put on the sterile gown, gloves, and mask and pushed open the door to Chandler's room. She slowly pushed open the door and spotted him on the bed sound asleep. The oxygen mask was present again and covering his nose and mouth. Just like Joey, he also had an IV taped to the back of his hand leading to the pole that was set up beside his bed as it slowly dripped a liquid into his IV.

"Chandler? Honey, can you hear me?" She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. She saw his eyes start to flicker a little bit, but they remained closed. She removed the mask and leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to his lips as she held firm to his hand.

"It's all right, honey. You just get some rest." She replaced the mask as she took a seat in the chair next to the bed, not letting go of his hand. " I'll be right here beside you when you decide to wake up."

Everyone took turns visiting with Chandler one-by-one the next several hours. Monica refused to leave his room and stayed by his side the entire time so she was the first person he saw when he opened his eyes. Monica stayed on full-alert to hear when he finally woke up.

"Mmm," Monica sat up when she heard Chandler start to moan.

"Honey," Monica smiled when she saw his eyes slowly open. "It's so good to see your eyes open again."

"How'd it go?" he asked softly as he took off the mask. "Did it work?"

"We won't know for sure if it worked or not for a few days. But so far, it's looking good." she smiled at him. "I'm so glad that this might almost be over; this part, anyway."

"So how's Joey doing? Is he ok?"

"He's fine." She assured him. "He's resting right now."

"Can I see him? Am I allowed?"

"You have to stay in this room until Dr. Brown gives us the ok, but I'm sure that Joey will come see you soon."

"He better." he sighed as there was a light knock on the door.

The door slowly opened and Phoebe pushed Joey into the room; he was in a wheelchair. They were both donned in the sterile gowns and everything that Monica was in.

"Hey," Chandler smiled at them. "I was hoping that you'd come and see me."

"I wanted to come sooner, but I had to get the ok from the doctor first." Joey told him as Phoebe pushed the wheelchair closer to the bed. "So how are you feeling?"

"Good, I think. But I guess I have to stay in this room until further notice."

"You'll be going home before you know it." Phoebe told him. "I told you that you're going to be fine."

"Thanks for staying so positive for me, Pheebs." Chandler told her.

"For both of us." Monica added.

* * *

Chandler was curled up on the hospital bed with his eyes shut tightly. He could hear very faint voices all around him as he tried to suppress the urge to get sick. He thought he was over this. After the transplant was over with, he figured he wouldn't have to do this anymore. Did this mean that it didn't work like they were all hoping it would? Did he have to go through more treatments and tests?

"Chandler?" He felt a comforting hand on his back.

"Mon?" he whispered.

"I'm right here. What's going on?"

"Stomach….hurts…."

"Do you need the basin?"

"Not yet."

"It's ok." She started to rub his back. "This is a completely normal reaction to this procedure. It doesn't mean that the procedure didn't work."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she smiled down at him. "You're going to be fine, honey."

"If you say so." He mumbled as he heard the door open and close.

"How is he?" he heard Rachel's voice.

"He's still sick. How's Joey?"

"He's getting better."

"What's wrong with Joey?" Chandler asked.

"He's having a reaction to the procedure as well." Monica told him.

"Is he ok?"

"He's just nauseous." Rachel told him. "But he's trying to get some pizza delivered to the hospital so I think he's feeling better."

"I wish I could say the same." Chandler mumbled.

"You're going to be fine." Monica told him again.

"I wish it was soon." Chandler moaned.

* * *

Two Weeks Later….

Monica silently walked into Chandler's room one morning after talking with Dr. Brown. She smiled when she saw him and Joey talking and joking around as the TV played overhead and they played a game of cards. It was such a great sight to see after seeing Chandler so run down the last several weeks. It was really hard to see both of their reactions from the bone marrow transplant the first few days after the procedure. Both Joey and Chandler had such bad reactions to it.

For Joey it was just nausea, but for Chandler it was much worse. Joey was only sick the first few days, but Chandler was sick for almost a week. It seemed as if he threw up every hour, on the hour. Joey stayed at the hospital the whole time to make sure that Chandler was going to be ok. Fortunately, he got better on the fifth day after the procedure; and it seemed to go more uphill as each day passed. Now it's been three weeks since the transplant was done and today was the day that they all had been hoping and praying for.

"Hey, Mon." Chandler looked up from his hand of cards and spotted her just standing there watching them.

"What's going on?" Joey saw her expression. "Do you have good news or bad news?"

"It's great news." she told them. "You can go home today, honey."

"Really?" Chandler smiled at her as Joey clapped him on the back.

"I just got done talking to Dr. Brown. Your tests came back fine. I can take you home today. But you will have to come back once a month for your checkups for a year. Then they'll be yearly."

"Sounds good." Chandler smiled. "Did you bring me any clothes to go home in?"

"I've got them right here." she handed him the small bag she had brought with her.

"Does everyone else know?" Joey asked her. "Did you call them?"

"Yes. I just called and left them all messages."

"Well, I've been in this place way too long." Chandler got off the bed and took the bag from Monica. "I'm going to get changed so that I can finally leave this place."

"I'll go fill out your paperwork and sign the discharge papers." Monica left the room and Joey stayed in the chair by the bed as Chandler went into the bathroom to change.

Monica finished filling out Chandler's release forms and went back into his room to see if he was ready to go yet. He was probably chomping at the bit to leave after spending more than a month in the hospital and not being able to leave his room at all. She walked into his room and saw that Chandler was sitting on the edge of the bed with the bag full of his belongings. Joey was standing near the window as a wheelchair sat by the bed.

"Hey. Are you guys ready to go?" she asked them.

"Definitely," Chandler smiled at her. "Everything is all taken care of right? We don't have to come back for any reason?"

"Other than your checkups, we won't have to come back." She told him. "Do you have everything?"

"It's all in here." He picked up the bag that was beside him. "I double-checked."

"The nurse left the wheelchair." Joey spoke up as he came over to them. "He has to stay in it until we get to the parking lot; hospital policy."

"I don't care." Chandler got up from the bed and went and sat down in it. "I just want out of this place."

"Ok. Let's go." Monica made sure they had all of Chandler's things and started to follow as Joey pushed Chandler out of the room and towards the elevators.

* * *

Everyone was gathered at Monica and Chandler's trying to get everything ready before Chandler arrived home. They were all rushing around trying to get all the decorations put up in time before Monica and Chandler arrived home with Joey. Both Chandler and Monica's parents were there to help with what they could. As soon as they got the phone call from Monica more than an hour ago, they all went and got decorations and all of Chandler's favorite food now that his appetite was back and he could manage to keep everything he ate down; for the most part.

Carol and Susan came with Ben for the celebration and helped everyone finish setting up as Ben played with Emma to keep her occupied while everyone else finished setting up.

"I just got a text from Monica," Rachel told them. "They just pulled up to the building and they're on their way up now."

Chandler followed behind Joey and Monica as they all made their way up the stairs towards their apartment. After he was diagnosed, he would get winded when he went up just a few steps. But now he could go the whole way up without having to stop to take a few breaths.

"Are you ok, dude?" Joey stopped to look back at him.

"I'm great." he smiled at him. "Let's go."

The three of them walked the rest of the way up to their apartment and walked in as they saw all the activity going on.

"We're home!" Monica announced as she opened the door.

"I'm home!" Chandler added.

"Welcome home," they all took turns giving him hugs as he made his way to sit on the couch with Emma and Ben.

Monica went to put Chandler's bag in their bedroom and came back out as everyone started to get themselves some food. Rachel watched Chandler playing with Emma and Ben and smiled. He was overdressed for the weather they were having that day. His chemo rounds may have ended, but he still experienced all the side effects. It was sunny and bright outside, but he was wearing jeans and a Knicks hooded sweatshirt, and he had gone back to wearing the Knicks hat. His hair was starting to grow back in, but he still wanted to wear the hat. And he still went through getting chills.

"Here you go, honey." Monica brought over a plate of food for him as Ben and Emma were situated on either side of him as everyone kept coming up to him.

"Thank you." he smiled at her as his parents sat down near him on the couch.

"It's good to see you out of that hospital room." Nora smiled at him.

"It's great to finally be out of the hospital." he smiled back.

"We want you to know that we meant what we said in the hospital." Charles told him. "About spending more time with you; we want to see you more."

"And all it took was for me to have a life-threatening disease." He mumbled under his breath. "Sorry, but you guys are leaving soon aren't you?"

"We're going to stay for the party," Nora assured him.

"Then yes, we will be leaving."

"But I'm going to make sure that I can get a couple days off every month so I can spend more time with you." Nora told him.

"And I'm going to do the same thing." Charles added.

"So both of you will be here once a month?" Chandler looked at them.

"Not both of us at the same time." Nora assured him. "We've only been able to tolerate each other so well recently because we were brought together by your illness."

"And I'm sure with us visiting you so often, you'll get very sick of us." Charles said to him. "But we're not going to break this promise to you."

"Ok." Chandler smiled at them. "It would actually be kind of nice to see you guys more often. Separately, of course."

Monica was across the room as she talked to some of Chandler's co-workers and assured them that Chandler would be back at the advertising firm before they knew it. She smiled at the sight of Chandler with his parents. Maybe this illness of his was a good thing that happened to them; in the way that it helped everyone realize how important they were to each other.

That night, Monica walked into their bedroom and saw Chandler sitting up in bed looking through a photo album. He still looked a little pale from when he had gotten sick earlier; he was still reacting to the transplant. She hoped that stage would be over soon; they both hated how often he had spent time in the bathroom during this whole illness.

"Hey," Chandler looked up from the album as he spotted her walking into the room. "I didn't realize that you had the camera with you up at the cabin."

"Yes, I did." she climbed in beside him and nestled against him as they both looked through the album. "You still take bad pictures, though. So I could only take pictures of you while you were sleeping."

"I really liked it there." he looked at her. "It was really peaceful. It was great to get away from the city for a little bit."

"Yes, it was." she smiled at him. "Maybe we could make yearly trips there."

"We could take our kids there when we have them. It could be a celebration of life for all of us."

"You still think about the kids we'll have?"

"Of course. I thought about it all the time when I was sick. Though at the lowest points, I thought maybe I wouldn't be able to give you any."

"I had my doubts about whether you'd make it through this ordeal, too." she looked at him. "So do you think we'll still have kids then?"

"I do, but-"

"What?"

"I want to wait until I've been off the chemo for at least a year before we start trying to conceive again. Just in case. I wouldn't want the baby to have any health risks because of all the drugs that they pumped into me still lingering in my body."

"I think that's reasonable." she smiled at him.

"I think we should finish looking at this in the morning," Chandler closed the photo album and placed it on his bedside table. "I'm starting to get really tired."

"It was a busy day for all of us." She turned out the light as they both got comfortable in each other's arms.

"I've missed this." Chandler mumbled as he held her tightly to him. "I've really missed holding you like this at night as we both fell asleep."

"There's going to be more times like this for the both of us. I just know it."

"I really hope so." he whispered as they slowly drifted off to sleep as they listened to each others' gentle breathing.

**AN: **So what'd you all think? I'm hoping to have the epilogue up within the next week. I'm going to be adding a lot more to it than was in the original. PLZ R&R!


	14. Epilogue

**AN: **So I finally finished tweeking and retweeking this. Hopefully you guys like this version better than the original. PLZ R&R!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Epilogue**

Monica turned over in bed and saw the empty space next to her that always greeted her recently. She sighed deeply as she started out of bed and went to check on the kids. She peered into her one-year-olds room and saw her still sound asleep in the crib so she decided to wake up the older kids first. She walked into her daughter, Erica's room and started to rouse her.

"Mama?" she rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up. "It's early."

"I know it is, but we have a big day today." Monica told her.

"Daddy's day." she smiled as she sat up. "We're celebrating his life."

"That's right." she got out an outfit for her out of the dresser. "Put this on while I go wake up your brother. And you both can help me with your sister as soon as you're both dressed."

"Ok." she climbed out of bed as Monica walked out of her room.

She walked into Erica's twin brother, Jack's room and smiled at the sight she saw. Jack was curled up against the wall as he grasped his bear. And right next to him, was Joey fast asleep. Monica was so thankful that Joey had offered to move in to help out.

"Joey," she started to shake him.

"Hey," his eyes slowly opened as he turned to look at her. "I heard him last night so I came in to sit with him for a bit. I guess I fell asleep in here again."

"Thank you, Joey. I definitely need the rest." she told him as he slowly sat up and winced. "What's the matter? Are you ok?"

"Apparently, your son kicks in his sleep." He told her.

"Mama?" Jack slowly awoke and saw her there. "It's still dark."

"I know, but we've all got a big day today." she went to the dresser and got out an outfit for him as well. "You get dressed and then you can help me with your sister."

"Ok." Jack climbed out of his bed and Joey slowly stood up and started to follow Monica out as they heard another voice coming from the nursery.

Monica pushed open the door and smiled as she saw Joey's wife Angela lifting baby Anna out of the crib. Two-year-old Parker was standing bleary-eyed in the middle of the room, obviously still disoriented after having just woken up.

"Hey," Angela spotted them. "I heard her start to awaken and came in to get her."

"Thank you." Monica smiled at her. "Do you mind helping me with her for a bit?"

"Not at all." She assured her.

"I'll take Parker." Joey picked him up and started out of the room. "I'll help the twins finish getting dressed."

"Thank you, Joey." Monica told him as he walked down the hall. "It's still so strange to see Joey acting all family man and not flirting with every woman that moves. You've definitely changed him; for the better."

"He still flirts sometimes," Angela told her. "I let him carry on for a bit, but I reign him in after awhile."

Monica took Anna from her and lay her down on the changing table as Angela got an outfit out for her.

"Can you believe it's been five years since-you know?" Angela looked at her.

"I know." Monica smiled. "I just wish Chandler was here right now."

After everyone was dressed and had eaten some breakfast, the cars were loaded up and they all settled in for the trip to their destination. A little while later, they pulled up to the hotel and walked into the ballroom to check in.

"There you guys are." Rachel came out to them holding Emma's hand as she held one-year-old Ryan in her arms.

"Is everyone else here already?" Monica asked

"Just about. Mike and Phoebe are on their way."

"I found Uncle Chandler's pictures," Emma told them and they followed her into a giant room where there were many tables set up.

They passed the many tables where there were pictures hung up on the wall of cancer survivors, people still fighting, and the ones that had lost their lives. Emma led them to an area where Ross was with Susan, Carol, and Ben. Monica spotted a few pictures of Chandler as he was receiving his medication during one of his treatments.

"Mommy?" Jack looked up at Monica as he saw the pictures. "Where is daddy?"

"I'm right here," they all turned and saw him standing behind them as his parents followed behind him.

"Daddy!" Erica ran to him as he bent down to pick her up.

"I missed you guys this morning." He smiled at them. "I had some special work to do here today."

"It's all right," Monica kissed his cheek. "Joey and Angela helped me out."

"Thanks, man." Chandler looked at Joey and he nodded. "Can you guys keep an eye on the kids while I show Monica something?"

"No problem," Angela told him.

Chandler put Erica down and started to lead Monica into the back where the conference rooms were. They walked into the room, where several survivors were sharing their stories. She sat down in the chair next to his as they listened to the stories of everyone in the room.

It had been a long and hard past five years. Chandler had only one health scare since his bone marrow transplant. It was about six months after the procedure. He woke up with a really high fever and was so lethargic that he didn't want to get out of bed. Once again, Joey was there to help them. He helped Monica get him into a cab and rode with them to the hospital. Chandler had been hospitalized overnight and hooked up to an IV. Everyone had gathered at the hospital to be with them, but Joey had stayed with them the entire time. Thankfully Chandler was fine, but for a moment Chandler started fretting that the transplant hadn't been successful after all. But today was the exact date of the transplant five years ago, which meant that Chandler was officially in remission. That also meant that he was officially cured.

True to their promise to each other, exactly one year after Chandler had stopped chemo and all his other treatments, they started trying to have a baby. After more than a year of trying and nothing happened, they went to a fertility clinic to see if there were any problems. Chandler was convinced that it was because of him; that the chemo treatments may have made him sterile and that was why they couldn't conceive. The doctor assured him that it had nothing to do with his treatments; the problem was with the both of them.

After taking a lot of time to consider all their options, they decided on adoption. They went through all the home visits and everything else and waited for the call. After so many months went by, they began to lose hope that they would get chosen. Until one Thanksgiving when they got a call about a woman in Ohio that was just a few months pregnant. There was some confusion with their file when they first met her, but after sorting everything out she still decided that she wanted to give them her baby.

They spent the next several months getting to know each other, and both Chandler and Monica were present in the delivery room. They all got a surprise when there were two babies instead of one like they were all expecting, but after the initial shock wore off they were both extremely happy. They had named Erica after her birth mother, and Jack after Monica and Ross' dad. They were perfectly happy with everything, when one day they found out that Monica was pregnant. They were so shocked to discover this after being told that it would never happen for them, but were extremely happy. They were really surprised to hear that they were pregnant once, but now Monica was pregnant again.

Chandler's parents had kept their promise to him and visited them once a month. Chandler didn't mind it most of the time, but he would sometimes get annoyed with them. They were both there for the really important things in his life, though. They were both at the hospital when the kids were born and were the first ones to know the moment they were born. They also helped them get settled into their own house when they decided to move out of the city. They were an important part of his life now, and he didn't mind it one bit.

Monica snapped back to the present as there was an announcement that the banquet would be starting soon. Monica squeezed Chandler's hand before they parted ways again and she went back out to find their table.

"Where's Chandler?" Phoebe asked as she sat down at one of their tables and took Anna into her arms.

"He'll be out soon." She told them.

The lights dimmed and there was a lone spotlight shone on the stage as a group of people came out and stood in front of the podium.

"Welcome everyone to Day One of the annual American Cancer Society's Survivors Weekend." A tall guy stepped up to the microphone. "Your generous donations go towards research to help find a cure for all types of cancers once and for all."

Everyone applauded as one of the other speakers read off some statistics and the last speaker announced that some of the survivors would be speaking. They all listened to the inspiring stories and smiled as they saw a familiar face come out onto the stage.

"That's daddy!" Erica pointed

"Shh," Monica quieted her. "Your dad's going to talk."

"My name is Chandler Bing and five years ago, I was diagnosed with ALL." Chandler started to speak after taking a few calming breaths. "To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. I had been married for a little over a year and me and my wife Monica were starting to discuss starting a family. We had to put all our plans on hold to deal with my disease. My course of treatments included several cycles of chemotherapy. None of them seemed to work for me and each one was a stronger dose than the one before and it always made me extremely ill for days after. It seemed like nothing was helping me. My only hope was a bone marrow transplant."

Monica blinked back some tears as she heard Chandler's recount of his experience. They really had been through a lot; Chandler was the one that had been affected the most, though it had made him a stronger person.

"After a medical scare and I had a feeding tube put in because I couldn't keep any food down, a match was found in one of my best friends. He didn't hesitate to be my bone marrow donor and by the next morning, we were both in the operating room getting the procedure done. In a strange way I'm glad that things happened the way they did. It made everyone in my life realize just how important everyone was to them. If it wasn't for my best friend I wouldn't have been able to be there three years ago when we adopted our twins, I wouldn't have been there to witness the birth of my daughter more than a year ago, and I wouldn't be here to see my next child being born in a few months."

Everyone applauded as one of the main speakers placed a lei around his neck and he descended the steps and went to join everyone at their table. Jack and Erica ran to him and he led them back to the table as he sat behind Monica.

"You were great, honey." Monica kissed his cheek.

"So are those happy tears?" he asked her concerned. "Or is it just hormones?"

"A little of both." She smiled at him. "It was just a little surreal hearing what all you went through back then. I mean, I know what all happened back then. I just-"

"I know." He assured her. "But all that happened made us come back from it better and stronger than ever."

"You're right."

"Excuse me?" they looked up and saw a photographer for the event. "Being one of the survivors, would you and your family like to get your picture taken? It will eventually go up on our wall at the headquarters, and you'll receive a copy of it in the mail."

"Sure." Chandler and Monica positioned their chairs around as Jack and Erica stood in front of Chandler and Monica as Anna continued to sit contently on her mother's lap.

"Thank you," the photographer walked away to find more of the survivors as Chandler and Monica enjoyed the rest of the night.

* * *

A couple days later, Chandler pulled into the already packed parking lot around dusk and they all climbed out of the van. Chandler stretched his back to adjust it after driving for several hours to get here. They had spent the night before at the cabin to celebrate as a family another year of Chandler being cancer-free. Chandler got the kids out of the back and Monica got out the stroller and wagon and set them up.

"Uncle Joey!" Jack ran to him as he came up to them with Angela and Parker.

"Is everyone else here?" Monica asked them.

"They're coming." Angela told her as she helped Monica get Anna in the stroller, and Joey helped Chandler get Erica and Jack in the wagon.

"I'm going to go get us all registered," Chandler told Monica. "Do you want to come with me?"

"I think I'll rest before we have to get started." she told him.

"Let's go find a place to sit down." Angela told her as Joey went with Chandler and the twins.

By the time Chandler and Joey got back to Monica and Angela, everyone else had shown up with their families. Ross and Rachel were there with Ben and Emma. They had gotten married a couple years ago and had Ryan. Phoebe and Mike had gotten married not long before Monica and Chandler moved into their house. They had two kids now; three-year-old Mike Jr, and one-year-old Sophie. Ross and Monica's parents, Jack and Judy were there as well as Chandler's; they were all getting along for the time being. They were all now sporting light blue shirts with the words Team Bing on them. Chandler's said Survivor on the front of it, and Team Bing on the back.

"Uncle Chandler!" Emma ran to him and hugged him.

"Hey, shortie." he smiled at her.

"Mommy, look what we got." Erica showed her the balloons that were on her and Jack's wrists. "And there's one for sissy, too."

"It's about ready to start." Chandler told them as he tied the other balloon to the stroller.

Chandler and Joey handed out battery-operated blinking candles. Everyone else got white ones, while Chandler got a red one because he was a survivor.

"Let's get in line then." Monica stood up and started to push the stroller towards the start/finish spot.

"How are you feeling?" Chandler looked at Monica.

"He's kicking up a storm today." she rubbed her belly. "Maybe he knows that it's a special day for his daddy."

"Welcome everyone," they all heard the announcer. "To the final day of American Cancer Society's annual Survivor's Weekend. Everyone that has decided to participate here today is either a survivor or is walking in memory of a loved one who lost their battle. If all of the teams would please line up for the survivor's walk."

Monica and Chandler lined up behind all the other survivors and their families. They started the walk as all their friends and family followed behind them.

"I'm so glad that we're able to celebrate this day." Monica told him. "That we're able to be happy with our kids and look forward to the newest one."

"Part of that is because of Joey."

"I know," she glanced back at Joey with Angela and Parker and smiled at him. He caught her eye and smiled back.

"What's with the look?" Angela looked over at Joey.

"They're so happy." he told her, gesturing to Monica and Chandler as they shared a quick kiss right before the walk started.

"You're a big part of why we're able to do this today." she told him.

"If I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate to do it for them."

"I know." she smiled at him as they all started to follow behind the big group of people.

***Three Months Later….

New York Post

Births:

Mr. and Mrs. Chandler and Monica Bing are proud to announce the birth of their newborn son, Joseph Charles Bing.

THE END

**AN: **So what'd you all think? I hope I didn't scare you too much with the little tease about whether or not Chandler was still alive. I also decided to change the baby's name from the one in the original because I think Chandler and Monica would have wanted to honor Joey in some way as a payback for what he did for Chandler. PLZ R&R!

**AN2: **I have really enjoyed rewriting this story for all of you, but I need to work on my other stories now. I may not be posting to some of my Friends stories for a little bit. I'm going to instead focus on the OC stories that I have on here. If anyone is familiar with that show, go check them out. I also have a possible new Friends story that I might consider posting here as well. I'm strongly considering posting it within the next hour. Keep your eyes open for it.


End file.
